


Episode 9: Dark Latnok

by WilliamShipley



Series: Kyle XY Season 4 [9]
Category: Kyle XY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-15 08:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 23,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1298587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WilliamShipley/pseuds/WilliamShipley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the split up of Latnok, the problems may be even worse.  Dark Latnok still represents a danger that must be faced.  More pieces will fall.  Kyle will face great loss and a new challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trager Dinner

Jessi came into the kitchen while Nicole was cooking dinner and asked, "Can I help?"

Nicole looked around with a harried expression and said, "Thank you, I've gotten behind and could use the help. Could you watch the pork chops?"

"I could tell you were stressed," Jessi gave her a knowing smile. "What are we having?"

"Pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli and a salad," Nicole said. "I still have to mash the potatoes and make the salad. The broccoli's cooking."

"I'll finish the pork chops and make the gravy," Jessi volunteered. "It's almost the same meal I made when Brian visited, except I made green beans."

"The broccoli looked good today," Nicole explained.

With the two of them working together, dinner was soon finished. In a short time they carried the food to the dining room table where they were joined by the rest of the Trager household. Everyone started filling their plates.

"This is great, Mom," Josh said.

"Jessi helped," Nicole glanced over at her in acknowledgement.

"I just finished the pork chops," Jessi said. "Nicole did all the work."

"Well, it felt like a rescue to me," Nicole said. "I'm not as good at multitasking as the two of you are."

Stephen asked, "So, how did your Latnok meeting go today?"

"You both looked like business executives this morning, going off in your suits, carrying a brief case." Nicole smiled momentarily at the memory then looked more serious, "Is Latnok going to do anything about the attack on Jessi?"

"Latnok has changed," Kyle assured her with a smile. "It won't be threatening anyone anymore. We're going to be what Adam Baylin wanted us to be: scientists, visionaries, and humanitarians."

"I know that's what you want them to be, Kyle," Nicole cautioned, "But are you sure you can trust them?"

"We can trust them," Jessi said with a big smile, "Kyle's in charge now, they made him chairman of the board."

"Are you serious?" Nicole tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.

"Kyle, what happened?" Stephen asked.

_I described the board meeting. How we had presented information about Paul Milworth and his work on biological warfare, Robert Lukeson and his work with autonomous weapons and how they had been removed from Latnok. I told how Grace had resigned rather than have us go through all of her misdeeds. And finally I told how Jessi had been given her own seat on the board and I had been elected chairman._

"What about that Keels fellow," Stephen asked. "The one you said was working with mercenaries."

Kyle and Jessi glanced at each other. Kyle explained, "Brad Keels wasn't at the meeting. The insurgency collapsed and as the security forces were rounding up the mercenaries, Brad Keels was killed."

Nicole frowned in thought, "So the guy who sent the mercenary to kill Jessi is dead?"

"They think the mercenaries killed him when it all started to fall apart," Kyle explained.

"Well that's great news," Stephen nodded. "I was worried he might try it again."

"Good, he deserved it," Lori said, looking protectively at Jessi.

Nicole looked into her tea but didn't say anything.

Stephen said, "So three members were taken off the board. What about the remaining ones?"

Kyle said, "We've had dinner with all but one of the remaining members, and we're going to meet with her soon. We've gotten to know them. Most of them are good people and have wanted to do this for a long time."

"That's one of the reasons they made Kyle the chairman," Jessi explained. "He did it when no one else could."

" _We_ did it," Kyle corrected. "There are a couple of members who were just interested in science and went along with the 'dark' members because they wanted to be left alone." He opened his hands in explanation and continued, "There were a lot of people afraid of Brad Keels. They'll be happy to go along with the rest of us."

"What about the 'dark' Latnok members," Stephen asked. "They're probably not happy about being thrown out of Latnok. Are they likely to be dangerous?"

"I don't think so," Kyle shook his head with a concerned look. "But we're going to have to watch them to make sure."

"We're also going to deal with Cassidy," Jessi said firmly. She looked at Kyle, "You promised.'

"I did," Kyle admitted. "I'm not sure what we are going to be able to do. We can't prove that he killed Sarah. We'll have to do the research and see what we can find out about him."

"We know he killed her," Jessi said. "We can't let him get away with it."

"We won't," Kyle promised.

"I still feel bad about encouraging you to be interested in him, Jessi," Lori said. "He seemed nice at the time."

"It's not your fault," Kyle said. "Cassidy could appear very friendly."

"We thought he was just my neighbor," Jessi added.

"How's Andy settling in, Josh?" Nicole changed the subject.

"She's caught up on her homework," Josh said. "It's really great to have her back."

_From there, the conversation went on to the other normal talk of school and schedules and the myriad details and decisions that make up a family's life. It was pleasant to discuss less weighty things than the future of Latnok and bask in the pleasure of dinner with my family._

"Well, that's enough for me," Josh said. "I have homework to do."

"I'm glad to see you keeping up with your homework," Nicole said. "I was worried that Andy's coming back would distract you."

"She's a taskmaster," Josh smiled. "She says that just because the cancer is gone, I don't get to slack off, I still have to make something of myself."

"I like that girl," Stephen nodded.

Josh smiled, "I do too." He got up and headed up the stairs.

"I have homework to do too," Lori said. "I need to keep my grades up. I have my fingers crossed about UDub. I should find out in a couple of weeks." She got up and left the table.

Nicole looked at Kyle with a smile, "You and Jessi don't have homework, do you?"

Kyle smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "It doesn't take us much time to do the homework."

"We have to do research for RL Associates," Jessi said. "We told Ron Legge we would send him some more prospects next week."

"I guess we _do_ have homework," Kyle said. At Nicole's raised eyebrow, he continued, "That's the place where Summer Jensen works. Kesdet has a consulting contract with them."

"How is that working out?" Nicole frowned slightly. "I know Josh and Andy are happy, was that really a wise investment, though?"

"It's working very well, Nicole," Jessi assured her. "With the leads from Kesdet, RL Associates is growing. Summer is going to have to hire two more artists to keep up with the work."

Kyle smiled, "Kesdet is getting consulting fees and Ron Legge is talking about repaying the money Jessi invested."

"You told me I couldn't spend a lot of money on presents," Jessi smiled, "We're making a profit, it's not costing me anything."

Nicole laughed and held up a hand, "All right, obviously you planned this out. I still think it would be a good idea if Summer Jensen doesn't know you arranged it all."

"We're being silent partners," Jessi assured her. She looked at Kyle, "Why don't I bring my laptop into your room and we can work on it there."


	2. Kyle's Room

Jessi brought her laptop into Kyle's room and set it next to his computer. They sat side by side, typing rapidly on their keyboards.

Jessi pointed at her screen, "Here's another likely prospect. I found a social media post indicating that they had a meeting where they decided to look for a new agency. The poster is complaining about the extra work that's going to involve."

"Maybe we can make their job easier," Kyle smiled. "I'll add them to the list."

Nicole knocked on the door and said, quietly, "May I come in?"

"Of course you can," Kyle said.

_I could tell the Nicole was concerned about something. Her heart rate was slightly accelerated and her anxiety level was raised. There was something she wanted to talk to us about that made her feel uncomfortable. I wondered if she knew about the times Jessi had visited me in my tub._

Nicole came in and sat in a chair, looking uncertain. Kyle and Jessi looked at her expectantly. She broke the silence by asking, hesitantly, "You said Brad Keels was dead?"

"Yes," Kyle nodded. "He was killed when the National Security Force was rounding up the mercenaries."

Nicole said, "The other day, at the breakfast table, you and Jessi said you were going to deal with him." She took a breath and continued, looking at Kyle, "Did you arrange for him to die?"

Kyle met her eyes, "Yes, Nicole."

Jessi objected, "That was just one of the possibilities."

"Jessi," Kyle said. "We knew that it was likely he would die. Either by the mercenaries who were likely to think he betrayed them or in a fire fight with the security force, or by being captured and tried as a war criminal responsible for thousands of deaths."

Nicole looked down at the floor for a moment and then looked first at Jessi and then Kyle. She said, seriously, "Tell me what you did." She held up a hand, "Just the summary, I don't need the details, I probably wouldn't understand them."

"We identified all of the mercenary forces and their facilities then we anonymously reported them to the National Security Force," Kyle said. "They immediately began raiding the camps and killing or capturing them."

"So, you found out where they were and turned them into the authorities?" Nicole leaned forward, "Anything else?"

Kyle glanced at Jessi who admitted, "I hacked into Colonel Kieferts bank account, he was the man running the mercenary forces, and emptied it. That kept him from having the money for his forces to escape."

Nicole frowned, "You stole his money?"

"I transferred it to 'International Doctors'," Jessi said. "I thought he should help pay for some of the damage he caused. I did the same thing to Brad Keels account so he couldn't give Kieferts more money."

Nicole raised her eyebrows in response and sat obviously thinking.

"Did we do wrong, Nicole?" Kyle asked quietly. He reached over and took Jessi's hand, saying, "I couldn't let him try to hurt Jessi again."

"He deserved it," Jessi said firmly. "He and Keiferts are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. The recent Anthrax attack was only the most recent example. They've been doing this for years."

"But you arranged things so that he was likely to die," Nicole pointed out, "because you wanted him dead." She sighed, "That bothers me a lot."

"We told the legitimate government about people who were causing death and destruction within their country," Jessi said, defensively. "It was the right thing to do." She shrugged, "It might have been wrong to empty their accounts, but it seemed just."

Nicole smiled grimly and nodded in acknowledgement, "There is a sense of justice to that." She thought for a moment and said, "Tell, me, could you have closed down the mercenary operation and arranged it so that Brad Keels and ... Kieferts could get away safely?"

"Yes," Jessi said. "But the mercenary troops were going to have casualties. Why should the people who hired them get away safely? They would just do it again somewhere else."

"He tried to kill Jessi," Kyle objected. "He would do it again."

"I can't argue with your actions in the abstract," Nicole said, slowly. She took a breath, "And, frankly, I'm personally happy at the results, including Keels being dead. Having Jessi kidnapped and almost killed was terrifying." She looked at Jessi earnestly, "I'm so glad you're all right." Then she looked back at Kyle, opening her hands in explanation, "But the reality is that you wanted him dead and he _is_ dead as a result of choices you deliberately made. Your motives were not pure. I'm worried about how that will affect you. I'm afraid that, with time, you will find this kind of thing easier to do."

"It does bother me, Nicole," Kyle admitted. "It had to be done, though."

"Tom Foss told me that if it stops bothering you, you stop being human," Jessi said. "He said that you live with what you've done as the price you have to pay, that it keeps you from doing it unless you really have to."

"I don't even want to think about how many people Tom Foss has killed," Nicole said. "But I'm grateful for what he did to save Jessi and the things he's done to keep us all safe." She sat for a moment and then added, "I guess that I just wish we were back in the simpler days when the worst thing I had to worry about was you disobeying us when Ms. Bloom said you couldn't see Amanda. I worry about you." She glanced at Jessi and added, "About both of you."

"The problems we face are bigger now, Nicole," Kyle said. "We can make a difference with what we do. We have to do the right thing. Sometimes people are going to get hurt no matter which choice we make."

Nicole thought for a moment, "The two of you are going to have a big impact on the world. The choices you make are going to affect many people for good and bad. You are going to have to make other difficult decisions." She looked at them earnestly, "Just try to always remember who you want to be and stay true to that person."

"We will, Nicole," Kyle promised.

Nicole stood up and stepped in front of Kyle opening her arms in an obvious invitation to a hug. Kyle rose and they hugged. She said quietly in his ear, "I love you, I'm sorry you have to deal with things like this."

After they let go she turned to Jessi who seemed slightly surprised but stood up herself for a hug. Nicole smiled and told her, "I love you too."

After hugging Jessi, Nicole turned to leave but stopped in the door, still troubled, "Always remember, you can talk to me about things like this. Both of you."


	3. The Rack

It was late Sunday morning at the rack and the place was quiet. Andy was sitting at the end of the counter, theoretically working on her homework, but mostly chatting with Josh when he had some spare time. Amanda was cleaning the tables, giving them some space to talk.

"You're getting off at three, right?" Andy asked. "What do you say we go over to your place after you get off and play some G-Force? We could cuddle on the couch, eat junk food and shoot each other. _Your_ mother doesn't complain about that."

"We could go over to Jessi's apartment," Josh suggested.

"Always the hopeful lad," Andy said. "I told you we weren't going to be doing that -- or at least not for now."

"Well a guy can dream," said Josh, he added wistfully. "I've been dreaming for months."

"Not news to me," Andy sighed. After a moment, she suggested, "We could go into the storeroom and we could do 'inventory'. You could count them again." She arched her back slightly to indicate the 'them'.

Josh looked at Amanda, who was cleaning the counter, and said, "I don't think so. The last time we did that, when we came out, Amanda was in a really bad mood."

Andy said, "We were probably in there too long."

"Yeah," Josh said. He sighed, "But it was nice." They exchanged smiles at the memory.

Amanda saw Nate coming in the door and went to the counter to take his order.

"Your usual latte?" She asked with a smile.

"You know me well," Nate said, agreeing.

"Just what you like to drink," Amanda blushed slightly. "I don't really know all that much about you."

"I'd certainly be glad to remedy that," Nate said. "Ask me anything."

Amanda paused for a moment then said, "Let's stick to music for now."

"That's fine with me," Nate agreed. "I am here to speak of Mozart."

Amanda made his latte and gave it to him, saying "If you want to talk I can take a break."

Nate smiled, "I'll get us a table."

Amanda went to Josh and said, "I want to take a break now. If you'll cover for me, when I'm done I'll cover for you and you can go and ...," She finished embarrassedly, "well whatever it is the two of you do in the storeroom."

Andy raised an eyebrow and looked at Josh who instantly agreed, "Absolutely. Take all the time you want." He glanced over at where Nate was sitting.

Amanda blushed slightly, "Thank you." She mixed a smoothie for herself and carried it over to sit down with Nate.

Amanda said, "So, what do you want to say about Mozart?"

"Actually, that was mostly rhetorical," Nate admitted, "although I have been thinking about the concert for the last few days. I really liked the concerto and Requiem. Listening to them on the internet doesn't do them justice."

"But you still aren't fan of the horn piece?" Amanda asked.

"Not really," Nate said. I could see it was difficult to play but I found it repetitive.

"We should listen to some more Mozart," Amanda suggested.

"That's a great idea," Nate nodded then leaned forward. "There's concert in a couple of weeks with Mozart's 'Rhondo for Piano in D'. They are also doing Dubussy's 'Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun', Brahms 'Symphony number four' and Messiaen 'Oiseauz exotiques'. Can I get us a couple of tickets? The orchestra's still available, I checked before I came over."

"I'd like that very much," Amanda said. "I really enjoyed the last one."

"Then it's a date?" Nate said hopefully.

"It is." Amanda agreed. She continued, thoughtfully, "You're going to find the Oiseauz exotiques very strange. It's not particularly melodic."

"Some of Eric Satee's works are like that," Nate observed.

In the front of The Rack, Lori had just come in the door. Josh met her at the counter, "What can I get for you?"

Lori looked over at Amanda and Nate talking, "How long has that been going on?"

"A few weeks," Josh said. "She seemed pretty happy to see him today."

"Kyle isn't going to like that," Lori mused, "he still feels protective about Amanda." She shook her head and added, sarcastically, "And Jessi _loves_ that." She shrugged, "Not my problem. Could I have a strawberry banana smoothie? I'm meeting Mark."

Josh mixed her smoothie and gave it to her. She picked a table, well away from Nate and Amanda and sat down, facing the front. She spread her music sheets out in front of her and started looking them over as she sipped her smoothie.

A few minutes later, Mark entered and got a coffee, then joined Lori, bending over to kiss her before sitting down.

"So how are the songs going?" Mark asked.

"I'm trying to get ready for the recording session this week," Lori said. She admitted, "I would really rather be doing it with you at Raitt Hall. The idea of going to an actual recording studio is a lot more stressful."

"I wish you were too, Lori," Mark said. "It bothers me that Robin is pushing you, trying to get you to change your music."

"As opposed to you pushing me and trying to get me to change my music?" Lori asked. "You don't like the competition?" She smiled, "Are you jealous of Robin."

Mark blushed slightly, "It's not that." He paused for words, "It's just that music has been what we did together. I guess I don't like sharing that with Robin."

"We also do some interesting things at Jessi's apartment," Lori said with a grin. "You don't have to share that with Robin." Mark blinked, arrested by the thought. Lori said, "Typical man." She poked him in the chest with her finger and said, "There will be no threesomes."

Mark blushed to his hairline and stammered, "That isn't what I was thinking."

"That's _exactly_ what you were thinking," Lori said. She shook her head in mock annoyance and picked up a piece of music, "Take a look at this, I've changed the second verse. I think this has more of what I feel."

Mark took the sheet from her hand and read it, moving his hand slightly as he imagined the music. "That's better," he agreed. "It's a stronger statement."


	4. Kesdet Consulting

When Kyle and Jessi reached the front door of Kesdet Consulting, Tom Foss was waiting for them. He opened the door and let them in, saying, "Let's go upstairs, Declan's already here."

_I had called Foss after the Latnok meeting and told him about the changes we had made in the board. He had suggested that Jessi and I come to Kesdet and discuss them with him and Declan. He wanted to know how the events at the meeting affected the threats he needed to be concerned about. I suspected he also wanted to celebrate our success with us._

Foss led Kyle and Jessi upstairs. Declan was already sitting in the chairs near the windows. Foss gestured toward the seats and they all sat down.

"You've accomplished what seemed to be impossible," Foss said. "I know that Adam Baylin couldn't figure out how to recapture control of Latnok.' He shrugged, "Most of the time I was working for him he was focused on trying to regain control of the Zzyzx experiment, or at least know what was happening to you, Kyle." He thought a moment and then added, "Of course that may just have been just the part I was involved with. Adam was always working on many things at once."

"Adam's vision is what really accomplished it," Kyle assured him. "The board members who became our allies were still inspired by the vision he," Kyle glanced at Jessi, "and Sarah had put forth when Latnok was started. They wanted to still believe in it. Jessi and I just gave them a chance to regain that vision. That's how Allana Sellars saw us, as 'another chance'. We had their support. We just had to build the case against the 'dark' members of the board. With Brad Keels dead, the dynamics of the board shifted in our favor."

"I was glad to hear that you had dealt with him," Foss said. "I'm certain he would have tried again, or made an attempt on your life, Kyle."

Kyle hesitated and said, "It still bothers me that we arranged it." He looked at Foss and said, "Did we do the right thing?"

"Of course you did," Foss assured him. "Making that kind of decision is never easy. I've had to do it too many times. I wish I could have taken care of it myself so that you didn't have to." He took a breath and changed the subject, "So tell us how the meeting went."

_We told them how we had done the research on the 'dark' members of Latnok. How we had presented it to the board and how the board had voted to remove them from the organization. We told how Jessi had been elected to her own seat and I had been made chairman._

"So, that leaves the 'dark' Latnok members, Robert Lukeson, Paul Milworth, and Grace Kingsley out in the cold," Foss said. "And that makes them potential threats to you and Jessi. Do you think they're likely to retaliate?"

Kyle said, "I don't think so, at least not soon. Keels was the one most likely to use force and he's gone. The others will probably spend some time regrouping."

"They're still dangerous," Foss cautioned. "Any of them could hire a hit man with petty cash. Do you have any further plans for dealing with them?"

"I'm not sure we need to," Kyle said. "Our goal was to get Latnok focused on their original vision and we've done that. We should try to keep track of them in case they try to do something to interfere with us, but they're out of Latnok now."

"Paul Milworth helped kill thousands," Jessi objected. "Robert Lukeson's work has the potential of killing more. Just because they're no longer part of Latnok doesn't mean that they are going to stop. They're still dangerous people."

"Sun Tzu advises against pressing a desperate foe too hard," Kyle countered, "He suggests that you let them have a chance of escape or they will fight to the death. If we don't threaten them further, they may be happy to leave us alone. They're not the only people in the world doing evil things. We can't go after everyone in the world who is doing wrong."

"You should never injure an opponent and leave him capable of retaliation," Foss disagreed. "That gives him reason to attack you. It might not be safe to let them plot a counter attack."

"Kyle, I know you always want to think the best of people," Declan said. "It might have been Keels who sent Grimes, but they were all involved. I think you have to stop them."

"I agree, Kyle," Foss said. "Adam always hoped that if he left them alone they would leave him alone in return. It didn't work."

"What would we do to stop them?" Kyle asked. "They aren't in Latnok anymore. We've cut off their access to the resources of Latnok."

"We reported the mercenaries to the local government," Jessi suggested. "We could report them to this government. We have documentation of quite a few criminal actions."

"We would have to be careful not to expose the Latnok organization," Kyle said, thoughtfully. "It's _our_ organization now, we have to protect it."

"I want to deal with Cassidy," Jessi shifted the subject, "I don't want him to get away with having killed Sarah. We have to find him."

"You told me that he's at the Latnok office at MIT," Foss said, puzzled.

"Not any more," Kyle shook his head and frowned. "He disappeared from there right after the Latnok meeting. We haven't been able to get any clues as to where he went. Grace must have tipped him off."

"We monitored all the surveillance video from Logan International," Jessi explained. "Even using an algorithm to detect reasonable disguises, we couldn't find him. We have no way of knowing where he is."

"He might have traveled by ground to one of dozens of airports," Kyle spread his hands. "Or he may still be in the area. We think he's still in the country."

"He'll make a mistake," Foss said. "I'm sure you'll be able to find him. The two of you are an impressive team." Kyle and Jessi exchanged smiles. Foss looked out the window for a moment and then said, "I think it's time."

"Time for what?" Kyle asked.

Foss went to a safe he'd built into the wall, punched in a security code, and opened it, taking out a thick folder. He brought it back to the group and said, "Adam gave this to me to give to you when you became 'of age'. He wasn't specific as to what that meant. Usually that would be the traditional twenty first birthday." He grinned at Kyle, "But that's not all that clear when it comes to you. You're now the Chairman of Latnok. You're dealing with adult issues. I think that it's time you had these resources." He handed the folder to Kyle.

"What is it?" Kyle reached for the folder.

"The bulk of Adam's estate," Foss explained. "You're the only family he had. You represent his legacy to the world." Foss pointed at the folder, "That's the title to his house and property where you stayed with him, the cabin up on route 12, and quite a few other investments."

Kyle leafed through the papers and said, frowning, "I don't need this, I'm happy living with the Tragers, I certainly don't want to go live in Adam's house. Jessi and I are making plenty of money."

"You don't have to do anything with it, for now," Foss said. "There's a caretaker who drops by regularly to take care of the house and property. You should know it's available if you have a need for it." Foss shrugged and concluded, "It's yours, Kyle. Adam wanted you to have it."


	5. Declan & Jackie

Declan parked across from the restaurant. He and Jackie got out of the SUV and walked across the street to the familiar converted brown wooden house with white trim around the windows. The many additions made it seem cobbled together rather than designed. They walked up the wooden steps with the white railing and turned right to go into the restaurant.

The host led them through one of the white trimmed doorways into one of the many small rooms. He indicated one of the cherry tables with a window view of the street. As they sat down, he put two menus on the table and told them, "Your waiter will be right with you."

They perused the menu discussing their choices until the waiter approached and asked, "Are you ready to order?"

Declan said, "Well have the Shahi Korma with beef, Chicken Tikka Masala and some Pesto Nan."

"And some Chai, tea," Jackie added.

The waiter said, "Thank you' and collected the menus and left them to put the order in.

"This is probably my favorite of the restaurants we go to," Jackie said.

Declan smiled and said, "I'll have to bring you here more often." There was an uncertainty in his voice.

Jackie's smile faded and she looked down at the table. "We have to talk."

"You're going away," Declan said in a dull voice. "I knew it."

She looked up and met his eyes. There was a hint of tears in hers, "I'm sorry, Declan. I'm going to have to do my pilot program in Texas. I have to demonstrate that the plants grow with a good yield in a warm dry climate. I'm going to be working out of Texas Tech."

"You're transferring to Texas Tech?" Declan asked.

"No, I'm still going to get my degree from UDub," Jackie said. "I'll just be working from Texas. There's a Latnok student group there that I'll be working with, or at least using their facilities."

"How long are you going to be gone?" Declan asked.

"I don't know," Jackie said, "probably at least through the fall. After that, it depends on how successful the pilot goes -- and it's going to be successful." She blinked a couple of times and then said, with a catch in her voice, "I might not come back at all."

Declan looked down and murmured, "What about us?"

Jackie reached over and put her hand on his forearm. "Declan, you're a really great guy. You make me happy. I do love you," she sighed, "but our lives are out of sync. You're just beginning to go to college. I'm coming to the end of it."

"You can't be that old," Declan said.

"Most of us at the Latnok group are ahead of our physical ages," Jackie said. "It puts us out of sync with the people around us." She sighed, "I'd try to talk you into going to Texas with me, but I won't be there long enough for you to make real progress in your education. I can't drag you around with me like luggage."

"I can't leave Seattle anyway," Declan said. "It's important that I stay here."

"I thought so," Jackie nodded. She ventured, "I don't really know what mysterious thing you've been doing, but it has something to do with Kyle and Jessi, doesn't it?"

"How do you know?" Declan frowned.

"I'm smart," Jackie said in matter of fact manner. She continued, "Anything to do with them is important, Declan. The help that Kyle and, especially, Jessi have given me has transformed an interesting thesis project into something that is going to have a real effect on the world. If you're doing something to help them, you have to keep doing it."

"And you have to do this," Declan said. It wasn't really a question.

"I do," Jackie said. "It's important work. I can't turn away from it. It's something to build a career on. And it's something to feed people."

"I was looking forward to being with you at UDub next year," Declan said. "At least if I get in," he added.

"I was looking forward to it too," Jackie admitted, sadly. "But, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I was probably going to be finished in another year under normal circumstances."

"When are you going?" Declan asked.

"In a week," Jackie said, "two at the most. Time is pressing and I have to get to Texas and get the planting started as soon as possible. They're already preparing the ground for me."

Declan digested this glumly and said, "So are we breaking up?"

Jackie smiled sadly and said, "I'd rather say we're just acknowledging reality." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I want to stay together as long as I'm still here. I don't want to waste the time we have left -- if you still want to, that is."

"Of course," Declan said. He asked hopefully, "You might come back?"

"I might," Jackie admitted. "I really don't know. But you can't count on that. I don't want you waiting for me to return. Find someone else."

Declan sighed and looked down at the table for a moment, "Are you going to find someone else?"

"I'm probably going to be too busy," Jackie said. "But I might."

They sat in silence for a moment, and then Declan asked, "So what do we do now?"

Jackie said, "I suggest we enjoy this meal, and then we enjoy each other's company for the rest of the evening. We have some time left, let's not waste it."

Declan nodded, "All right." Jackie leaned over and kissed him on the lips. After a moment he returned the kiss.


	6. UDub Latnok

Kyle and Jessi walked down the steps of the UDub Latnok office. As they got to the bottom of the stairs, Brian Taylor, who had been talking to one of the students, looked up and saw them. He excused himself and came over to speak to them.

"I got a call from Allana Sellars," he said. "She says that she's taking over from Grace, at least temporarily. She told me about the other changes. I suspect we should talk about them. Would you like to go out for some coffee?"

Kyle smiled and said, "I don't think your office is bugged."

"I suspect you would know," Brian chuckled. "I just like going out, but it's up to you."

Kyle looked at Jessi and she nodded. He told Brian, "That's fine, we can go for coffee."

After they had gotten their drinks and were sitting around a table, Brian said, "Allana briefed me on what happened at the board meeting. So, Kyle's the new chairman of Latnok and Jessi has a seat of her own. Congratulations are in order."

"Thank you," Kyle said. Jessi nodded an acknowledgement.

Kyle said, "The most important thing is that we got rid of Milworth, Lukeson and Grace. With the remaining board members we are going to make Latnok back into what Adam wanted it to be. We really will be scientists, visionaries, and humanitarians."

"And Brad Keels is dead?" Brian asked, with a hint of amazement.

"He was killed by his mercenaries," Kyle said.

"I never liked him," Brian said. "Over the years he got more involved with some ugly people." He paused, considering, "I certainly couldn't prove it, but I think that he may have been one of the reasons that Sarah went into hiding."

"He sent one of his mercenaries to kill Jessi," Kyle said.

"Allana said something about an attempt on Jessi's life, but she didn't know the details," Brian looked at Jessi with concern, "Are you all right, Jessi?"

"I'm fine," Jessi assured him. "He shot me with a tranquilizer dart. He was going to kill me but Kyle found me and Tom killed him."

"Good for Tom Foss," Brian said. "I'm really glad he was there for Jessi." He gestured with his hand, "That's why I came back, to try to protect her." He looked into his coffee for a moment then said, "Which leaves us with an awkward question: what happens to me now? I asked Allana and she didn't know, she said that was up to the two of you." He opened a hand, "I was brought in by Grace because she wanted to slow you down. I wouldn't blame you if you got rid of me, too."

"I think that Grace may have really been trying to protect Jessi and me," Kyle said. "But I don't think that was her primary goal."

"Grace was always the politician," Brian observed, "trying to play all the sides at once. I think she did want to both keep you safe and also keep you from upsetting what they were doing."

Kyle said, "It seemed to us that you were trying to give us good advice, even if it was to slow down. The 'King's Indian' strategy you suggested worked very well. By preparing our forces and waiting until everything was ready before moving, we were able to be decisive when we did. The battle was won before it started." Kyle smiled, "You were right, it was very important for us to get to know the individual board members. That was not only the key to our success but will help us work with them in the future."

"I tried to help," Brian said. "I was worried about Jessi." He took a breath, "With good cause, it appears. I think that's why Grace brought me in. She knew that I would do what she wanted because I wanted to keep Jessi safe. To be honest, if I had known she was in serious jeopardy, I would have tried to slow you down even more."

"I don't blame you," Kyle assured him. "I thought we had given them the impression that we had stopped looking. I thought that would keep Jessi safe. He tried to kill her anyway." He shook his head in memory, then looked at Brian and asked, "What do you _want_ to do?"

Brian said, "If I have a choice, I would like to stay on. I think I can still be of help to you and I like helping the students get things accomplished. Taking ideas and getting them implemented was what I did for Adam all those years." He looked at Jessi, "I'd like to stay a part of your life, Jessi, even a small one. You're my daughter, even though I did a terrible job of being your father." He looked into his coffee for a moment and then looked back up, almost pleading, "You're the only family I have."

_I could tell that it made Jessi nervous for Brian to remind her that he was her father. She didn't want anything to threaten the home she had found with the Tragers. I could understand that, I would have done anything to protect that home myself. But Jessi was also moved by his statement that she was the only family he had. Jessi understood being alone in the world. I was glad that she no longer felt that way._

Jessi said, "It would be all right with me. What do you think Kyle?"

Kyle said, "You're doing a good job here. I'd like to be able to have your advice. You were close to Adam for many years, you probably know more about what he wanted than anyone. If you want to stay, then you're welcome to do so."

"Thank you, Kyle -- and Jessi," Brian said. "It's good to be doing something useful with Latnok again. It's been an important part of my whole life, at least since a little after I was your age. I've missed it."

_Brian Taylor had been Adam Baylin's close friend. Adam had said that Brian had betrayed him. That he had been 'acting in his own interests for years'. He had thrown Brian out of Latnok for that betrayal. Brian had been helpful to us and he was Jessi's father, but we could never completely trust him because of that betrayal. His affection for Jessi seemed genuine, but so did his admiration of Adam, and he had betrayed Adam._


	7. Symphony

Amanda held on to Nate's arm as they moved down the aisle of the symphony hall searching for their row. Once again, it was relatively close to the front and they moved down the row of brownish yellow seats, finding their seats about a third of the way in.

After they had sat down, Amanda commented, "These are really nice seats." She added with a note of concern, "You're spending a lot of money on these tickets."

Nate shrugged, "I want you to have a nice experience." Noticing Amanda's unease he said, "I have a full scholarship, of course, and I win competitions from time to time." He smiled, "Kyle isn't always competing against me. I'm usually busy and I don't spend a lot of money. I can afford an occasional concert."

"Well, I appreciate it," Amanda said. "This is quite a treat for me." After a moment she added, "I'm hoping to get a scholarship, myself."

"Where are planning to go to school?" Nate asked.

"I want to go to UDub," Amanda said, "if I can get a scholarship. I think I have a good chance. Last summer there was a big recital in front of the scholarship board. I had an unusually hard time getting my piece ready and I thought it was hopeless." Her smile faded for a moment and was replaced with a hint of sadness. "But at the last minute, almost miraculously, it all came together and I played the best I've ever played in my life. The committee was very encouraging." As an afterthought, she added, "I also got a nice letter of recommendation from one of my teachers in New York."

"When will you find out?" Nate asked.

"When all the accepted students do," Amanda said. "Actually any day now."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Nate told her. "It would be nice to have you on campus."

The lights started to go down and the conductor came on stage to applause. He raised his baton and the first flute began the familiar opening of 'Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun'. The rest of the orchestra joined in and as the gentle music filled the room, Nate put his arm tentatively on the back of Amanda's seat and she, after a moment of hesitation, leaned back into it, leaning against his shoulder. Encouraged, he put his hand on her shoulder and they relaxed into the music. The piece came to its quiet end and then the room was filled with applause. They both sat up and applauded.

Nate said, "Of course, that was a familiar piece. I think everyone knows that."

"It's beautiful in person, though," Amanda said.

"Yes, it is," Nate agreed. "The overtones of the natural materials are more complex than can be recorded in digital recordings."

"Is everything reduced to technology?" Amanda asked with mock annoyance.

"It's the way I approach life," Nate shrugged. "I can still enjoy the music, especially in the company of a pretty girl."

Amanda blushed but was saved from a response by the conductor raising his baton and the orchestra began the dissonance of _Oiseaux exotiques._ As the piano joined in, Amanda leaned forward, concentrating on the music. The piece ended in a rhythmic beat of the various instruments together and, once again there was applause.

Nate frowned, "I'm afraid that was too abstract for me. I like to be able to see a more definite pattern."

"I do too," Amanda nodded thoughtfully, "But it is interesting to listen to how he deals with the lack of structure."

The audience quieted again and the orchestra began the lilting opening to the Mozart Rondo. Once again as the piano joined in, Amanda sat forward to listen. This time as the music was surrounding them, Nate noted her fingers unconsciously doing fingering the notes on her leg. When the piece came to its quiet end, there was a hearty round of applause.

Amanda said, "I've played that one, I can remember some of it."

"I could tell," Nate said with a smile, looking at her hands. "You were trying to play along."

Amanda laughed and looked down at her hands, "I guess I was."

The conductor raised his baton and the orchestra began the Brahms symphony. Nate and Amanda sat back and let the music flow over them. Nate put his arm around her in a matter of fact manner and she leaned against his shoulder to listen. The half hour long piece alternately filled the room with music or pulled them into the orchestra in the quiet pieces. At the end the strong finish released them and the rest of the audience and the applause lasted long and was heart felt.

"That was very powerful," Nate said.

"You can just let the music flow over you," Amanda agreed.

They gathered themselves together and left the hall with Amanda comfortably on Nate's arm. She was obviously more relaxed there than on their previous date.

When they reached her doorstep, after the drive home, she unhesitatingly and somewhat enthusiastically kissed him. When they separated, Nate looking slightly surprised but definitely pleased, she said, "I had a wonderful night, thank you."

"I did too," Nate agreed. "We'll have to do it again."

"I'd like that," Amanda said. "Will I see you at the Rack tomorrow?"

"I'll be there," Nate said, "We have music to discuss."

Amanda leaned forward and gently kissed him, once again, then turned and went into her house, stopping as she closed the door to say, "Good night, Nate."

"Good Night, Amanda," Nate echoed and turned to go back to his car.


	8. Trager Dinner

The Trager family was gathered around the dinner table, enjoying a meal of spaghetti, which now typically included mushrooms, as well as garlic bread and a big salad. There was a mood of celebration.

Lori said, happily, "When I saw the envelope was from UDub, I was really afraid to open it. I mean it was thick, and I've heard that rejections are thin, but it was still hard to open."

"Since your envelope was the same size as Kyle's and Jessi's I thought you were probably in," Nicole said with a smile. "Still, I'm happy to have it confirmed. It will be nice to have you close to home." She looked at Kyle and Jessi, "It will be nice to have you all close to home."

"Now I have to sign up for housing, and food service and everything," Lori was excitedly planning ahead. "Mark says he can help me pick a residence hall."

"It might not be a great idea to be in the same hall as Mark," Nicole cautioned. "Part of the purpose of going to college is establishing your independence."

"I know, but I don't want to be far away, either."

"We're going to have to start filling out financial aid forms," Stephen said.

"I should be able to pay for the first year with the money from 'Thursday'," Lori said. "I heard from Robin that Willow's label is going Platinum on her album so my payment on that will be, um..."

"Forty five thousand, five hundred," said Kyle.

Lori smiled at him. "They estimate a year's expenses at twenty six thousand so I should be able to pay for my first year and part of my next out of that. "There will be performance royalties after that."

"You're going to have to pay taxes," Stephen reminded her. "You'll be surprised how fast they can add up."

"It may seem like a lot of money," Nicole cautioned, "But it can go pretty fast."

"We should fill out the forms anyway," Stephan told her. "It might be better to spread your money over four years."

"You're probably right, Dad," Lori said.

Stephen said, "Obviously we don't need to worry about finances for Kyle and Jessi."

Kyle smiled, "It isn't going to be a problem."

Nicole asked Kyle, "Are the two of you going to sign up for the dorms, the food service and everything?"

Kyle looked surprised and glanced at Jessi. "I don't know what we're going to do, Nicole," he frowned. "We really haven't talked about it." He glanced around the room and added, slightly concerned, "I haven't really thought about moving away. I like living here. This is my home."

"I suppose we have to," Jessi said, hesitantly. She looked at Nicole, "You probably want your office back."

"We're not throwing you out," Nicole assured her, earnestly. "You can commute from here if you really want to. I just assumed that you would want to have the full college experience. There's no need to rush your decision."

Both Kyle and Jessi looked relieved.

"You should probably turn in the housing requests, anyway," Stephen suggested. "That way you can have the option. You may lose a room deposit if you change your mind late in the process but I don't think that the money is going to be an issue with you."

"That makes sense," Kyle said.


	9. Kyle's Room

Kyle was busily working on his computer when Jessi came into his room. She walked over to stand next to him looking at his screen then looked around at the door to see if anyone was watching. Seeing that they were alone she bent down and kissed him. Kyle guiltily looked at the door.

"I was discreet," Jessi said with a smile. "What are you working on?"

"I was looking into the work of Pons and Fleischmann," Kyle said, recovering. "They caused a lot of excitement in 1989 when they announced that they had discovered a means of producing cold fusion. It turned out to not be repeatable and the whole subject has been mostly discredited, although there are still a few people working on it."

Jessi looked puzzled, "Why are you looking in that? Do you have an idea?"

"Our quantum battery project is moving into production," Kyle said. "We don't have much to do with that anymore. The Madacorp people are handling the scale up quite well. I was thinking that the principles we used for the quantum pockets and the construction techniques might have other applications."

"You think it might have applications to cold fusion?" Jessi asked, frowning in thought.

"Most of the experimental results were erratic," Kyle explained. "There was a theory that the effects were the result of variations in the crystalline lattice of the palladium used in the experiment. That would explain the inability to reliably repeat successes. Palladium can absorb a lot of hydrogen atoms, and it was theorized that by packing the lattice the pressure could be built to overcome the natural repulsion of hydrogen atoms and allow them to fuse."

"Like the pockets in the quantum battery allow us to pack a high number of electrons into a small space," Jessi nodded.

"Exactly," Kyle said. "You can see how it might work."

"Does it?" Jessi asked. "In theory, I mean."

"I can't be sure," Kyle said. "I've been looking at structures to see if I could get something that would generate the necessary density. There would have to be a flow mechanism instead of a store and retrieval one. Maybe you could look at the idea. I think you may be better at this kind of thing than I am."

"I could do that," Jessi said. She thought a moment, frowning "Of course if we built something that facilitated fusion, we'd need shielding. There would be a dangerous number of neutrons produced."

"We first have to come up with a design," Kyle said. "It might not be possible." He looked at Jessi and smiled, "Did you just come in here to kiss me or did you want to talk about something?"

"I always like kissing you," Jessi said with a smile. Then she became more serious, "We need to do something about the 'dark' Latnok members. I don't want to wait until they come after us again. I'm afraid they might try to hurt you next time."

"Are we sure they'll come after us?" Kyle frowned. "Maybe they'll focus on their own projects and leave us and the rest of Latnok alone. From what we've been able to find out, they're doing that, consolidating what assets they have left."

"Their own projects kill people, Kyle," Jessi said. "I should think you would want to stop them. It may not be safe to let them consolidate their assets."

"What do you think we should do?" Kyle asked, "How should we stop them?"

"It'll be easy. We've done all the research, we know of a number of crimes we can report. We just have to find an anonymous delivery mechanism so that no one tracks the source back to us, or to Latnok."

"Particularly for Paul Milworth," Kyle said. "Homeland security and a lot of other agencies are going to be very interested in the fact that he exported weaponized anthrax. They'll be looking closely at all aspects of the case, including where the information came from."

"They'll also be interested in Robert Lukeson's arms trades, and Grace's financial manipulations." She paused, a surprised look on her face and looked at Kyle. "You don't want to turn Grace in. Your heart rate spiked when I said her name. Is it because she's your mother?"

"She isn't my mother," Kyle objected. "Nicole is my mother. Grace is ... I don't know what Grace is." Kyle opened his hands in explanation "We're connected somehow."

"I know," Jessi said. "I know I have a connection to Brian. I don't really know how I feel about him, either."

"I know she's been responsible for a lot of Latnok's problems," Kyle admitted. "But it still bothers me to have her arrested."

"If you want to turn over the information we have on Milworth and Lukeson and keep watching Grace, that's all right with me. I think they're more likely to be dangerous to us, anyway."

Kyle's mood brightened, "All right. I've found a researcher at Paul Milworth's organization who is troubled by what they've been doing. I can bounce a message off of his email to the FBI and make it look like he's the whistleblower."

"Will he get into trouble?" Jessi asked.

"Maybe some, but they'll probably give him a break for turning Milworth in," Kyle said, "even if he didn't really do it. He's not completely innocent. He's been involved in dangerous research. He knows about the anthrax."

"Is there someone like that in Lukeson's organization?" Jessi said.

"I have a candidate there, too," Kyle said.

"You were just waiting because you didn't know what to do about Grace," Jessi said.

"I was," Kyle admitted. "If you think we should, I'll send off the data on Milworth and Lukeson."

"Go ahead," Jessi said. "We have to watch Grace. She may try to help Cassidy. I'm not going to let Cassidy get away with killing my mother."

"We won't, Jessi, I promise," Kyle said. He rapidly typed on the computer for a couple of minutes and said, "All right, the two whistleblowers have sent their messages off. It will probably take a while for the FBI to do their investigations."

"Good," Jessi said. She had been standing next to Kyle as he worked with her hand on his shoulder. She gently stroked the back of his head and said, hesitantly, "I've been thinking."

"What about?" Kyle asked, looking up at her.

"I like living here with the Tragers, I like having a family. But if we did move out when we go to UDub, we could get a place together. We wouldn't have to be discreet." She smiled.

Kyle said, quietly, "That could be nice."

"Your heart rate just accelerated," Jessi observed, her eyes twinkling.

"Yours did too," Kyle said with a smile. "I wonder if that's what they mean by the term sweethearts?"


	10. J & B Studios

Mark pulled his car up in front of a gray cement block building with a small black and white sign proclaiming "J & B studios". He shut the engine off and looked at Lori. "Well, here we are."

"I wish I was just going to record with you at Raitt Hall." She frowned at the building and added, 'It was certainly a classier building."

Mark laughed, "It'll be fine. You're used to singing in front of an audience, this shouldn't be so hard."

"There's something permanent about having it recorded," Lori mused. "There's a lot more pressure." She smiled thoughtfully, "I want to do well for Robin."

"If you make a mistake you can try again," Mark countered, "It's not like a live performance."

"I suppose so," Lori got out of the car, opening the back door to get her guitar out of Mark's back seat.

They went in through a plain door. The interior of the facility was short on frills, with nondescript worn furniture and beige walls. Robin was standing talking to a medium height man with long dark hair.

When she saw them, she broke off the conversation and greeted them, "Hi, you guys are right on time. This is Dave Marner, he'll be your engineer." She gestured toward Lori and Mark, "Dave, this is Lori Trager and Mark Brandt." They nodded toward each other. "Would you like a soda or something?" She asked them.

Lori said, "I think just some water. My throat is a little dry."

Robin opened a nearby refrigerator, got a bottle of water and handed it to her, "Anything for you, Mark?"

"No, I'm fine."

"So, Lori," Robin said. "Dave will take you in to the studio," she indicated a door, "and get you and your guitar miked. I've told him that we want to balance it to emphasize the vocal. We're demoing the songs, not the performance, after all."

Lori nodded.

Dave opened the door and gestured toward it. With a slightly panicked look at Mark, Lori carried her guitar through it and the door closed.

Robin assured him, "Don't worry, she'll be fine. Dave is a pro. He'll take care of her." She indicated another door, "We'll watch from the control room."

They went through the other door. The control room was large enough for several people and had a large glass window that opened into the studio. Dave had provided Lori a tall stool and was arranging the microphones for her. She gave a slight nervous wave to Mark through the window and he waved back.

In a moment, Dave returned to the control booth, sat down in front of the board and switched a switch, "All right, Lori, we have plenty of time, so relax and we'll have some fun. Let's start with your first song. We'll do it at least a couple of times so don't worry about mistakes."

Lori strummed a strong D and began a song with power and anger. It had done well at 'Pockets' the last time she played it. As she played, Dave watched gauges and gently adjusted levels. When it was over, he said, "That was really good, Lori. Let's give it another try so I can have a second copy to work with."

The session lasted for nearly two hours. By the end of the time, Lori was clearly tiring and Dave turned to Robin, "I think that's all the usable stuff we are going to be able to get today."

"It sounded like a good session to me," Robin agreed. "I think we've got something I can work with."

Dave got up and went to retrieve Lori. Robin and Mark met them in the entry area. Robin said, "We got some good stuff. Dave will clean it up and I can start sending it out."

Lori looked tired but happy, mostly relieved that it was over. She turned to Dave and said "Thank you. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be."

"You were fine," Dave assured her. "It'll be easier next time."

"You did great," Robin added, "Now it's time for your reward."

Lori looked at her with a puzzled expression. Robin took an MP3 player out of her pocket with earbuds attached and offered them to Lori who put them in. Robin pushed a button on the player and Lori listened with increasing excitement.

Lori turned to Mark excitedly, "It's Willow, singing 'Thursday'. It came out really great, just like I imagined it." She was still listening and sighed, "I wish I could sing it like that."

When the song ended, Lori took the earbuds out again. Robin handed her the player and said, "The album is scheduled for release at the end of next week, this is a prerelease copy, hang on to it. Keep it limited to family and friends only until the actual release."

"I will," Lori promised. "This is really great."

"I told you they were starting out platinum, so we're going to do pretty well with this. From now on, it all depends on how much play your track gets," Robin said. "Don't expect everything to go this easy, we got lucky with this one. It could be years before we get another major artist to record one of your songs. Or one of the ones you recorded today could catch someone's interest."

"I understand," Lori said. "But this," she held up the player, "is wonderful."

Robin said, "Be sure to let me know the next time you're scheduled for 'pockets', I want to be there."

"We will," Mark said, and they turned to leave.


	11. SeaTac

Declan pulled his SUV into the SeaTac airport parking structure and started looking for a parking place. Jackie sat silently in the passenger seat. It didn't take him long to find an open space and he pulled in and parked, turning the engine off. He and Jackie looked at each other silently for a long moment.

Declan said, "Let's get your luggage out." They got out of the car and went to the back to get Jackie's luggage.

As they started toward the terminal, Jackie said, "Thanks for driving me; I could have taken a cab. I know this is hard on you."

"Of course I was going to drive you," Declan said. "I wasn't going to just sit home and watch the clock."

Jackie smiled sadly and nodded. They carried the luggage into the terminal and to the airline counter. The lines were short and they soon got to the counter.

"Where to?" The agent asked.

"Lubbock, Texas," Jackie handed her ticket to him. He put tags on her three bags and stapled the claim stubs to her folder and wrote on it.

"Your gate is A7. It's to the right and down the concourse." He pointed. "Your departure is on time today. Enjoy your flight."

They walked away from the counter holding hands now that Jackie only had her carry on bag. In all too short a time, they had reached the line for the security check. Jackie set her bag down and turned to put her arms around him. He held her tight. They kissed for a long time.

When the kiss was over, Declan said, hoarsely, "Be sure and email me, let me know how your project's going."

"I will," Jackie said. "Declan, you're going to have to move on. Don't carry a torch for me."

"If I don't carry a torch, I'll be in the dark," Declan said.

They looked at each other with tears in their eyes for a moment and then, neither one of them willing to actually say goodbye, Jackie turned and got into the security line. It, too, was short and she was soon through the metal detectors and had put her shoes back on. She looked back to see Declan still standing where she had left him. She waved and he returned the wave, then she picked up her bag and headed down the terminal.

After she passed out of sight, Declan wandered around the terminal area keeping an eye on the departure boards until her flight number was listed as departed, then he sighed, straightened his shoulders and went back to his SUV to head home.


	12. Robert Lukeson

Robert Lukeson was sitting in his study, working at his computer when he heard the doorbell ring. He went to the door and opened it to find two men in dark suits standing on his doorstep. Over their shoulders, out on his lawn, he could see two more men dressed in black wearing bullet proof vests and carrying assault rifles. Behind them, four black Suburbans with tinted windows were parked on the street in front of his house.

His eyes focused back on the men, one of them said, "Mr. Lukeson, I'm FBI agent Andrews, this is agent Mount." They each showed him their credentials, giving him a moment to look at them.

Lukeson stared at them without really reading and finally asked, "What's this about?"

Andrews took a paper from his inner suit pocket and handed it to Lukeson. He said, somewhat formally, "Robert Lukeson, I have a warrant for your arrest in conjunction with numerous violations of the Arms Export Control Act."

Lukeson frowned, "Agent Andrews, I really ..."

Andrews held up his hand to stop him and took a card from his pocket to read, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." He continued to read from the card until he got to the final sentence "Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?"

Lukeson smiled grimly and shook his head, "I think I'd better wait for my lawyer."

Andrews nodded, "That's probably a good idea sir. Would you please put your hands behind your back?" He nodded to Mount who walked around behind him taking handcuffs out of his pocket.

Lukeson put his hands behind his back and looked down and stood numbly as the agent put the handcuffs on.

Mount took him by the arm and said, "Would you please come with me, sir?" He proceeded to lead him out the door.

As they exited the building Andrews said, "Just a moment." He took another paper out of his inner pocket and held it up for Lukeson to read, saying, "Here is a warrant for the search of your premises." Lukeson glanced at it and nodded. Andrews waved at one of the black Suburbans and the doors opened and a number of technicians wearing lab coats and carrying a variety of equipment climbed out and headed for his front door.

As they stood on the sidewalk, more of the men with bullet proof vests and assault weapons came from the back of his house to join the two that had been standing guard in the front.

"That's a lot of firepower to arrest a single scientist," Lukeson observed to Andrews, nodding to one of the black dressed, assault rifle carrying agents.

"You've been playing games with some very dangerous people, Mr. Lukeson," Andrews said. "We take this all very seriously." They led Lukeson to one of the Suburbans and put him in the back, taking care to guide his head so that he didn't strike it on the door frame.

Andrews said to Mount, "You're agent in charge on site, call me if they find anything I should know about."

"Right," Mount said and turned to walk back to the house to supervise the search.

Andrews waved to the cluster of armed men clustered on the lawn, "Agent Williams."

One of the men detached himself from the group in response. When he got to the car, Andrews said, "Come along and keep an eye on Lukeson while we take him downtown."

They both got into the Suburban and Andrews drove it away.


	13. FBI Field Office

The FBI interrogation room was a small, nicely appointed conference room with a wooden table and comfortable leather chairs. Robert Lukeson sat in one of the chairs on the side of the table opposite the door. Next to him sat a man who was obviously his attorney. On the other side of the table sat Agent Andrews flanked by another man in a dark suit.

Andrews stated his name and the date and time and continued, "Present are Robert Lukeson, Peter Humbodt, his attorney, and Mr. Phillips from Homeland Security."

Peter Humboldt said, "Agent Andrews, this is all moving unusually fast. I would like to know the status of my client and what charges you have made and are planning on making."

Andrews said, "Your client is currently under arrest charged with violations of the Arms Control Export Act. Primarily for the export of the state of the art autonomous weapons systems that his organization has been developing to a variety of countries, most seriously Iran and North Korea. Those are the highlights. There's actually a long list of specific violations. I suspect today's search of his home and office will add to the list."

"I will, of course, require an itemized list of charges before I can advise my client appropriately," Humboldt said.

"In addition to a large number of arms export violations, we're also looking at stock manipulation, including insider trading, and multiple violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." He shrugged, "In a case like this federal income tax evasion is usually automatic." He looked meaningfully at Lukeson, "We are even looking at the possibility of treason which is a capital crime."

"Treason," Humboldt said scornfully, "I don't know how you are going to support that."

"Technically, the Korean war is still going on," Andrews shrugged. "There's just a cease fire in place."

"I'd like to see you try to litigate that," Humboldt said.

"I would too," Andrews leaned forward and said earnestly. "I'd like to nail your client's hide to the wall with everything I can build a case for. Mr. Lukeson has done serious damage to this country and put our armed forces at risk. Advanced weaponry of the type he has designed may well be capable of traversing the protection around an aircraft carrier group. You can imagine what type of concerns the Pentagon has over that. I want to put him away for several hundred years."

"So why are we here now?" Humboldt frowned. "I doubt that it is in my client's best interest to aid in your efforts to build your case."

Andrews said, "We're here because Mr. Phillips has an interest in your client and would like to ask him some questions unrelated to the charges against him."

"Mr. Phillips is from Homeland Security?" Humboldt asked.

"I represent the National Biodefence Analysis and CountermeasuresCenter," Phillips introduced himself. He opened the file folder that was sitting on the table in front of him and took two pictures off the top, sliding them across the table for Lukeson to see. "Do you recognize either of these men?"

Lukeson leaned back and whispered into his lawyer's ear. Humboldt whispered in his ear in return and then Lukeson leaned forward, saying, "Yes, I recognize both of them. The one on the left is Brad Keels. I had heard that he was dead. The one on the right is Paul Milworth. I've known them both for over twenty years."

Phillips nodded in satisfaction, "Mr. Lukeson, we too believe that Mr. Keels is deceased. We are primarily focusing on Mr. Milworth. We would be grateful for any information that you can give us that would aid in our investigation."

Paul Lukeson looked at his lawyer, who said, "As Agent Andrews has just made clear, my client is facing a large number of very serious charges. Obviously if he's helpful to you he would expect some assistance with his problems in return. What are you offering?"

Andrews sighed, "I don't like it, but if your client is of significant aid to the investigation, the bureau will accept a guilty plea on some of the arms charges with a prison sentence of five years."

Humboldt frowned, "Mr. Phillips, can you give me some idea of the nature of your investigation? I'd like to be able to assess the nature and value of my client's ability to assist."

Phillips said, "We believe that Mr. Millworth and Mr. Keels conspired to create and export biological weapons of mass destruction. We believe these weapons were used on civilian populations with a death toll exceeding four thousand people. If this is true, it may well represent the largest terror attack in history."

Humboldt stared for a moment, then leaned back and held a long whispered conversation with Lukeson. He leaned forward, "My client believes he can help. I would think that, in a matter of that magnitude, the value of his help would be worth greater consideration."

Andrews shook his head, "His offenses are significant too. He has to do some time." He looked at Lukeson and assured him, "It will be in a minimum security 'white collar crime' facility." He opened his hands and said, "Mr. Phillips can make his case without it, he's just trying to get corroboration on some details. It's a better offer than he deserves."

Humboldt looked at the table for a moment and then turned to Lukeson, "Bob, even if we can beat this, they'll have you in court for at least a couple of years. With your international connections, resources and especially the nature of the charges, I'm not going to be able to get you out on bail. I think you should take their offer."

Lukeson sighed and nodded. He leaned forward and put his right forefinger on Paul Millworth's picture, saying, "Ever since Paul was a grad student, he was fascinated by what made variations of diseases more virulent than others. He has spent the last twenty years perfecting techniques to build more potent biological weapons. His interest was theoretical, but Brad Keels was more practically oriented. His primary interest..."

Andrews, Phillips, and even Humboldt leaned forward as the tale unfolded.


	14. Nate's Dorm

Nate was sitting in his room, typing on his computer when he heard the knock at his door. He smiled, went to the door and opened it to find Amanda standing there, looking slightly uncertain, and holding a couple of CD's.

"A vision of beauty doth appear at my door," He greeted her, ostentatiously. He waved her into the room, "Come in milady."

Amanda smiled, with a touch of embarrassment, and came hesitantly into the room. She handed him the CD's, "I brought the Rachmaninoff." She was looking around the room, still slightly anxious.

"If you're looking for secret files, I've hidden all my dossiers," Nate said with a laugh.

"No," Amanda said defensively, "It's just that the last time I was in here was pretty frightening. It's strange to be back in here again." She shook her head and mused, "I never thought I would be."

"I didn't think you would be either," Nate confessed. "But, I'm very glad you are. I want you to be comfortable." He waved his hand around, indicating the room, "I'll rearrange my furniture if it will help."

Amanda smiled, mildly flattered, "I'll be fine. It was just for a moment."

"Can I go and get you a soda?" Nate asked. "The machine is just down the hall."

"I remember," Amanda said. "That would be nice."

Nate left the room. Amanda carefully sat in his chair not touching anything on his desk until he returned with their sodas. He sat down on the bed and they opened their sodas and started drinking them.

Amanda looked around his room thoughtfully, "Are all the rooms like this?"

"This is a single," Nate said. "Most of them are doubles. I keep pretty strange hours and I'm not really good with roommates." He smiled wryly, "I'm not so good with people in general." He shrugged, "I'm trying to do better."

"I was just trying to imagine what my room will be like next year," Amanda said. "It's starting to feel real. Graduation's coming up next month."

"So you're not going to try to commute?" Nate asked.

"I'll be glad to get away from my mother as soon as I can," Amanda proclaimed. "My scholarship includes room and board so I can afford to stay on campus."

Nate smiled, "I'm surprised she let you come here tonight."

"I'm not here," Amanda laughed, "I'm off 'studying' at a friend's house."

"So you're being naughty," Nate said, raising an eyebrow.

Amanda blushed, "Only a little. I wanted to listen to Rachmaninoff with you."

"Well, then let's start the music," Nate said, "I have a good sound card and speakers so I just use my computer for music. Put the disk in the drive. What are we going to listen to first?"

"I thought I would start with his Piano Concerto Number Two," Amanda explained. "This is an old recording, the sound quality is somewhat flawed but it's Rachmaninoff, himself, at the piano."

She loaded the CD and the player loaded. She picked the track and in a moment the simple repetitive piano sequence started and began to build.

Nate lay back on his bed, obviously leaving half of the bed available. Amanda looked hesitant and then lay gingerly down next to him, carefully not touching. They lay side by side, listening to the rich, romantic music. As the concerto progressed, Amanda began to relax and not be as stiff. By the end, she was resting up against him.

After about a half an hour, the concerto came to an end and Amanda got up to select the next piece.

"What are we going to hear now?" Nate asked.

"Probably his most played work," Amanda said, "'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini' there are twenty four variations, the eighteenth is probably the most recognizable."

She started the piece and then rejoined him on the bed, this time he was bolder and held his arm out to put around her. She smiled and only hesitated slightly before lying back down with his arm around her and snuggling against him. As the variations progressed, she was more comfortably lying against his shoulder.

When the eighteenth variation began he rolled onto his side and looked at her and they smiled at each other, the well known romantic theme inspired him to reach over with his free arm and stroke her hair. He leaned over and they gently kissed. He smiled at her and lay back down to listen.

When the final variation finished, Amanda reluctantly sat up, "This is really nice, but I'm going to have to go home now. If I don't my mother will be calling my friends to check on me." She leaned over and kissed him, "We'll have to do this again soon. I can leave the disks here for next time." She got up and took another drink from the soda she had set down on his desk when the music started.

"I'd like that," Nate said. He got up as well. He walked her to the door and reached to open it. She interrupted him by putting her arms around him and giving him an enthusiastic kiss. He was slightly surprised.

"That's for not pushing," Amanda explained. "Being alone with Charlie was sometimes a wrestling match."

"I want you to feel comfortable here," Nate said. "I want you to come back."

"I want to come back too," Amanda agreed. She kissed him once more, gently and then opened the door and left, saying "Good night, Nate."

Nate closed the door, heaved a deep sigh, and observed, "It's a long term project."


	15. Jessie's Apartment

Lori grinned at Mark as she put the key into the lock of Jessi's apartment. She opened the door and went in with Mark following, then closed the door behind them and put her arms around him. They kissed passionately.

After a long kiss they separated, slightly flushed and breathing more rapidly than normally. "I really like Jessi's apartment," Mark said, appreciatively.

"So do I," Lori agreed. She tilted her head in the direction of the hall, "Shall we go to the bedroom?" Mark nodded, clearly interested in the idea.

Lori took Mark's hand and led him down the hall to the bedroom. Moving next to the bed she tossed the keys she still had in her hand onto the nightstand and set her purse on it next to them. She sat down on the side of the bed and started taking off her shoes and socks, glancing at Mark, raising an eyebrow to encourage him.

Mark took his keys and coins out of his pocket and put them on the nightstand next to hers and pulled his cell phone out of his other pocket and set it next to them. Finally, he took his glasses off and set them down as well. He sat down on the bed and started taking his shoes off too.

As soon as he had his shoes and socks off, Lori, in an aggressive mood, put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back onto the bed, climbing on top of him and kissing him while she held his head between her hands. After a moment she straightened up and smiled invitingly at him, leaning slightly forward.

He reached up and slowly unbuttoned the buttons of her blouse then she leaned over so he could kiss her chest just above her bra. After that, she sat up and started to take the blouse the rest of the way off.

Mark's cell phone rang.

Lori sighed, the mood slipping away, "One of your friends has terrible timing."

"Let it go to voice mail," Mark said in a husky voice, "We're busy."

Lori laughed teasingly, "Let's see who's so rude." She reached over and picked up his phone, looking at the caller id. "Just C," she shook her head. "Very mysterious."

Mark started to squirm and reached for the phone saying, "Give me that."

Lori laughed and held it away from him, with her left hand, while pressing in the middle of his chest with her right. "Is 'C' your other girlfriend? Charlene? Cindy?" She asked with a laugh. "Let's see what she has to say for herself."

"No, don't," Mark said, squirming harder to get up. There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

Lori, still laughing, raised an eyebrow and pushed 'answer' and then 'speaker' holding it up so that they could both hear.

Michael Cassidy's distinct voice came from the phone, "Mark, glad I got you, mate. Look, Kyle and Jessi are on the hunt. It's time to send me whatever files you have been able to find and get the hell out of there. I'm sorry about the girl, but it isn't safe to stay any longer."

The blood ran out of Lori's face. She pressed the hang up button and turned back to Mark, her face pale and eyes wide. She said in a stunned voice, "Why is Michael Cassidy calling you?"

Mark had stopped squirming and lay motionless. "Lori ...," he said.

"What files are you finding for Cassidy?" Lori shouted with a growing mixture of rage and fear.

Mark was struck silent by the force of her anger.

She pushed off of him with her right hand and went to her purse. Mark struggled to his feet and reached his hand out for her.

"Lori, I can explain," he said.

She turned around holding her can of pepper spray, "Stay away from me."

Mark dropped his hand and stepped back a step. He said in an injured tone, "Lori, I wouldn't hurt you."

"You people tried to kill Jessi," Lori accused. "Just stay back."

Mark stood, struck dumb by the statement.

Lori stared at him for a moment, anguish on her face, a glimmer of tears starting to form. She put his phone in her front jeans pocket and, without taking her eyes off of him, pulled her own phone out of her purse and pushed one of the speed dial numbers. When the other party answered, she said, "Mr. Foss. This is Lori, you said to call if there was an emergency. I'm at Jessi's apartment with Mark. He just got a call from Cassidy. He's been working with Cassidy, sending him files."

She listened for a moment then answered, "I think I'll be safe, I have pepper spray."

After some further instructions, she answered, "We'll be here waiting for you."

Mark started to panic, "Lori, I can explain. It isn't as bad as it seems."

"You can explain when Foss get's here," Lori said. They stood staring at each other for a moment and then Lori said, "Get your stuff, we'll wait in the living room."

Mark put on his glasses and put his keys and coins back in his pocket and then picked up his shoes and socks. Lori led them into the living room and stood with her back to the door, holding her pepper spray. Mark looked around the living room and found a chair to sit in while he began putting on his shoes and socks.

At one point he said, "Lori ..."

"Don't talk to me," she said. "I don't want to listen to you."

Once Mark had gotten his shoes and socks on he just sat in the chair with his head in his hands. Eventually, Lori calmed down enough to realize she still had her blouse unbuttoned and buttoned it back up. It seemed forever, but it was probably no more than fifteen minutes before there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Lori asked.

"Foss," came the answer. She opened the door and Tom Foss came into the room, carrying his Glock. At the sight of the weapon, Mark turned pale and was even more subdued than before.

"Kyle and Jessi will be here in a moment," Foss said. "Are you all right?"

"I ... I," Lori started to really cry for the first time since the phone had rung. Foss held out an arm and she leaned against his shoulder. He held her while she sobbed. After a couple of minutes she collected herself and looked down at her feet.

"I need to get my shoes on," She said, and went into the bedroom to do that and get the rest of her things. As she returned, there was the sound of a key in the lock and the door opened. Kyle and Jessi came in the door.

"Are you all right, Lori?" Kyle asked, putting his arms around her.

"I am now that you are all here," Lori buried her head in his chest.

Kyle looked at Mark, sitting miserably in the chair and then walked over and sat on the couch, Jessi sat next to him. Foss maintained a menacing position standing in front of the door and, after a moment, Lori sat on the floor next to him, as far away from Mark as the room allowed.

Kyle looked at Mark and said, "It's time to tell the truth. What files have you been giving Cassidy?"

Mark took a breath, pulling himself together, and explained, "You destroyed all the files and backups from his experiment last year. But you can never be sure you have everything. There are auto backups, cache storages, email records, hundreds of places in a modern computer system where copies of data remain. I've been searching these places, finding pieces of the data and collecting it for him."

"Why?" Kyle asked. "What did he offer you?"

"I had to," Mark said. He sat for a long moment and then said, "When I came to college at fifteen, I thought I owned the world. I had been the best at my high school and it was all easy for me. I was fascinated by the computers and focused all my energy on them. I didn't pay any attention to chemistry. I got behind." He sighed, "Way behind. For the first time in my life I was failing something. I panicked. I needed an A on the final and, so I turned my chemistry problem into a computer one."

"How do you turn a chemistry problem into a computer one?" Kyle frowned.

"By hacking the server and getting the answers to the test," Mark said.

Kyle and Jessi looked at each other and Jessi shrugged.

"But Cassidy found out. He threatened to turn me in unless I did what he told me. It would have ruined my career at fifteen. I would have been thrown out of school, there could even have been criminal charges and how could I have gotten a job in IT after that?"

_It was the age old story. Someone makes a mistake and then a blackmailer takes advantage of that to force them to go even farther astray. After that happens, the blackmailer has an even stronger hold. Once you bite on the hook, there is no escape. Cassidy had tried to blackmail me over Jessie's faked death. This was obviously a strategy he found successful. As Mark told the stories of the various things he had done as Cassidy's right hand man, he showed obvious relief in finally telling the truth. He had been under Cassidy's control for a long time._

"What did you have to do with Amanda's kidnapping?" Kyle asked.

"I was the lookout, I communicated with the collection team and told them when you were coming out," Mark said. "I also joined Cassidy at Latnok afterward." The flow of admissions faltered, he looked at Kyle, "He assured me that she wouldn't be hurt, that it was just a test of what you could do. I wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone." He glanced at Lori.

Kyle nodded and asked, "When you caught me in the warehouse, I thought you were helping me."

"I went outside and called him for instructions," Mark said. "It took a while for me to get through to him. He was angry, but I told him that he always wanted me to check with him first." He looked at Kyle with a slight smile, "I only had to do what he actually told me to do. It was my chance to get back at him a little."

_We questioned him about his connections with Cassidy after he had left UDub. He told us of the files he had found, the commercial secure server he had uploaded them to for Cassidy to access, the types of contacts he had made. He was telling the truth now, Jessi and I could tell._

"What's going to happen to me, now?" Mark asked when the story had come to an end.

"Well, we aren't going to turn you in for stealing the Chemistry test," Kyle said. "I'm sure Cassidy won't be doing so either. We _are_ going to tell Stephen about this, whether he still wants you for a TA after that is up to him."

"What about Latnok?" Mark asked. "The Latnok group is important to me. It's my home."

"That depends on how much you help us," Jessi said with a slightly sinister smile. "We can blackmail too."

Mark nodded then reluctantly looked at Lori. "What about us?" He asked with a quiet voice.

"There is no 'us'," Lori said firmly. "You've lied to me all the time we've known each other. I don't want to see you again. I don't know how you can even ask."

Mark hung his head in reaction.

Kyle said, "We're going to keep your phone for a while to see what we can get out of it. You might as well go home now. We'll contact you when we have something for you to do." He paused for a moment, then added, "And, Mark."

"What?"

"I strongly suggest you don't try to warn Cassidy," Kyle said.

"I won't," Mark promised. He got up and went to the door. As he got out of his chair, Lori got up from the place she was sitting next to Foss and moved well out of his way. Foss opened the door to let him out and then watched him until he got into the elevator and the doors closed, then he came back into the room and closed the door behind him.

Kyle said, "With the data Mark's given us and the information on his cell phone, we have a much better chance of being able to track Cassidy's current location."

"When you have an idea where he is, let's get together at Kesdet and plan our approach," Foss said.

"That's a good idea," Kyle said. He looked at Lori, who sat quietly crying. "I think it's time for us all to go home. Lori's had a very hard day."

Jessi said to Lori, "Would you like me to drive you home."

"Thank you," Lori said with her eyes red, her spirit subdued.

Jessi got up and as they left the room, she put her arm around Lori's shoulders.

"I'll give you a ride home too," Foss said to Kyle.


	16. Kesdet Consulting

Kyle and Jessi arrived at the Kesdet offices and went upstairs to meet with Foss in his quarters. Declan was already there with Foss.

"I've briefed Declan on the fact that Mark was working with Cassidy," Foss said. "How's Lori taking it?"

"She's still pretty upset," Jessi said. "Nicole's trying to help her."

"I bet she's writing some pretty nasty songs about him," Declan said with a grim smile.

"She's not playing any music at all," Jessi shook her head. "She says that it reminds her of Mark."

"That's not good," Declan shook his head. "Her music is important to her. She's been doing so well at it with her song being recorded and everything. I hope she can get back to it."

"It may just take time," Kyle said. "Nicole's good at helping people."

"You said that you thought you knew where Cassidy is." Foss returned the discussion to the subject at hand.

"Yes, we were able trace the call he made to Mark's cell phone," Kyle said. "Cassidy used a pre-paid 'burner' phone from Monroe, just northeast of Seattle. Triangulating the cell towers indicates he was probably in a coffee shop."

"Then he won't still be there," Foss said.

"No," Jessi agreed. "But we had no idea where in the country he was. We weren't absolutely certain he _was_ in the country. Most of our search effort was concentrated on the east coast because the last place we were sure he was located was at MIT."

"Once we had a confirmed location, we started searching around the area of Monroe, hacking traffic and security cams trying to get images of him," Kyle explained. "We picked up a couple of hits in that area within the last month so it was a reasonable assumption that he was living somewhere in that vicinity."

Jessi said, "So, we searched all property transfers in that area within the last year, looking for the possibility that he had a new base of operations."

"Why within the last year?" Declan asked.

"Because we think he would have set this up after we forced him away from the UDub Latnok office," Jessi answered.

"He might have had a place previously in his possession," Foss cautioned.

"If we didn't find anything, we would have broadened the search," Kyle agreed. "But we think we have found him. May I use your computer?"

"Of course," Foss gestured toward it.

Kyle called up the appropriate map software and narrowed the view down to a specific property. "This house is at the end of a quarter mile driveway in an area surrounded by trees. It's just off of route 522, across the SnoquaimieRiver, south of Monroe." Kyle adjusted the view to include the clearing the house sat in.

Foss pointed to a large building to the side and slightly behind the house. "This utility building looks like it could house several pods."

"It isn't as big as the one that we found the first time," Kyle said, "but it certainly would be large enough. The utility records don't indicate an unusual supply of power, though. I would expect that managing pods would require more." He shrugged, "I'd really like to see what's in there."

"We'd need to find a time when he isn't home," Foss said.

Jessi said, "Once we found this house, we concentrated more on the cameras in Monroe. We think he goes into town often. He seems to go there on Saturdays quite regularly, usually in the late morning."

"So, we head up there early next Saturday morning and wait for him to leave?" Declan asked.

"That might work," Foss said. "We'll have to be alert for alarm systems. We also can't be sure that he's alone."

"Field trip," Declan said with some enthusiasm. "It will be fun."

"Be sure to bring your Glock," Foss said, dampening his enthusiasm somewhat.


	17. Paul Milworth

Paul Milworth's white hair was uncharacteristically unkempt as he stood in the front room of his house looking out the window at the black SUV that was parked across the street and three houses down from his. The windows were tinted, but he could see that there were people inside. He shook his head and sighed.

He drained the last of the drink in his glass and contemplated the empty glass for a moment before walking back to sit at his coffee table and pour a couple of ounces more from the open bottle of scotch. He took another sip and idly rolled the capsule around on the table before picking it up and holding it up to the light to look at it.

It was a simple capsule, filled with a brownish-white substance. He curled his lip and sighed once more, setting it down again. He picked up the glass and held it up to look at it instead. After contemplating the motion of the scotch as he tilted the glass from side to side, he took another drink and set it back down as well.

The sounds of car doors closing interrupted his reverie and he got up to look out the front again. There were now half a dozen black SUVs parked on his street and the doors on several of them were open. Heavily armed men with dark clothing and bulletproof vests labeled with FBI and Homeland Security in large white letters were getting out carrying assault weapons. He watched them as they fanned out and started to move around both sides of his house. Standing by one of the other vehicles were two men in dark suits who were looking at his house and conferring.

After a moment, one of the men nodded to the other and they started walking toward his front door. Milworth straightened his shoulders, took a deep breath, and went back to his coffee table, bending to pick up his scotch. He drained the glass and set it down, then reached down with his left hand and picked up the capsule, holding it loosely in the palm of his hand. The doorbell rang.

He opened the door to see the two men. One of them said, "I am Agent Burkhart of the FBI, this is Agent Feldman." They held out their identification folders for him to see.

Milworth nodded, and offered his right hand to the first agent, saying, "I'm Paul Milworth. What can I do for you?"

Burkhart paused for a moment then shook his hand and said, "Sir, may we come in."

"Of course," Milworth said, leading the way into his front room. When they were inside he turned and asked, pleasantly, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Burkhart said, "Paul Milworth, I have a warrant for your arrest on multiple violations of U.S. Code Title 18 Chapter 10 Section 175. This is in relation to your activities related to 'the development and transfer of biological agents used as a weapon'."

Milworth said, "I'm sure there must be some mistake here, I am a legitimate biological researcher. I do deal with pathogens, of course, but for research purposes only." He cleared his throat and coughed nervously.

"We'll be glad to discuss it further after you retain council," Burkhart assured him. "At this time, we are going to have to take you into custody. Please place your hands behind your back." He nodded to Feldman who began to move around Milworth. He took a card from his pocket and began to read, "You have the right to remain silent."

Milworth started to shake slightly and was seized by a coughing attack. He covered his mouth with his left hand and then straightened up, swallowing to clear his throat. He said, "Excuse me." He put his hands behind his back.

Burkhart had paused at the coughing fit. He continued, "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." While he was doing this, Feldman put the handcuffs on Millworth. He continued, "You have the right to talk to a lawyer and ...," He paused and stared as Paul Milworth slumped to the floor.

Feldman checked his pulse, "He's not breathing and there's no pulse." He made a move to begin CPR.

"Stop," Burkhart commanded. "He must have taken something when he coughed."

Feldman looked anxious, "Shouldn't we try to revive him."

"The man is a _bioterrorism_ expert," Burkhart said, disgustedly. "Who knows what he could have taken. I certainly don't recommend you breathing it."

Feldman looked at Milworth in consternation, "I'll call the paramedics."

Burkhart shook his head. "Close the door," he commanded. "We're stuck in here until we get a 'hot' team in to figure out what we are dealing with." He spoke into the microphone at his wrist, "We have a possible contamination in here. Secure the perimeter. No one is to enter the building." He pulled his phone out of his pocket, saying, angrily, "He acted harmless. He completely suckered me." He shook his head, "We've really screwed up on this one. They really wanted to talk to him." He straightened his shoulders and dialed a number. When the call was answered, he said, "Sir, we have a situation at Paul Milworth's..."


	18. Cowkeys Concert

Josh and Andy were holding hands as they left the concert in high spirits.

"The Cowkeys are really great live," Andy said, "I can't believe we finally got to see them."

"They really rocked the place with 'Violet Thunderstorm'," Josh said, "it vibrated completely through you.

"Hardesty's drum solo was incredible," Andy marveled, "He went on twice as long as he did in the CD version."

"Mark Hardesty is a high energy drum player," Josh agreed. "It's great to actually watch him play in person. It almost looks like he's doing battle with some strange creature."

"'Temporary Moon' has always been one of my favorites," Andy said. "I like the sweet inevitable sorrow. The audience liked it too, everyone swaying in rhythm."

"I'm more of a fan of the high impact numbers," Josh said.

"I know," Andy said, "but you need to have something to slow dance to from time to time."

"There is that," Josh agreed. He rotated, taking her other hand and they spun in a circle a couple of times as if waltzing then he pulled them together for a kiss. After a moment they continued toward his car.

"Thanks for getting the tickets," Andy said, "The seats were great. Way to show a girl a good time."

"I owed you from the time when you scalped our tickets to save my job when the till was short at the Rack," Josh reminded her. "And besides I'd been saving for a trip to Cleveland, I could afford it."

"And why would you want to go to Cleveland?" Andy asked in mock puzzlement. "I don't know why anyone would want to go to Cleveland."

"Me neither," Josh said, smiling. After a couple more steps, "So what do you want to do now?"

"We could go to your place and play G-Force," Andy said.

"I still have a key to Jessi's apartment," Josh said. "We could go there."

"It would be nice," Andy said, thinking about it. She looked sternly at him, "But you know that it's still 'no' on the sex, right?"

Josh sighed, "I know, but there are still things we can do that would be very nice."

"Just as long as you know that when the inning is over you're going to be left on base," Andy said.

"Which base?" Josh asked, switching to negotiating mode. "Second base is wonderful. They're great, of course, but third base..."

"The problem with third base is that once you're there and home plate is within sight, the temptation to try for it is strong," Andy said. "And then you would wind up getting thrown out."

"If the coach tells me to stay on third," Josh said. "That's where I stay."

"I'm the coach?" Andy said. "You know, that's not a bad idea, you could use some coaching."

"I'm a perfectly fine base runner," Josh said indignantly. "Are you criticizing my base running?"

Andy laughed and then turned serious, "I know you want to, Josh, and I want to too. But I'm not ready to be the person I will be once we're doing it regularly. I'm sorry."

"I understand," Josh said. After a pause, "Well, I don't actually understand, but I want you to be happy." He shrugged, "I can wait."

"I don't want to chase you away, Josh," Andy said looking pensive.

"There's no danger of that," Josh said with a smile. "I'm very hard to discourage."

"You've always been very stubborn," Andy said.

"I've seen you through Cancer and Cleveland," Josh said, "So now I'll have to see you through Chastity."


	19. Cassidy's House

Declan's SUV was parked off the road behind some brush while they watched the long driveway to Cassidy's house. Foss sat in the passenger seat next to Declan holding a pair of binoculars. Kyle and Jessi sat in the back.

"Maybe he's not going into town today," Declan suggested.

Foss smiled, "Stakeouts are like this -- lots of waiting and uncertainty."

Jessi tilted her head, "His car's coming."

"Here he comes," Foss agreed. They watched as Cassidy's car came down the driveway, pulled onto the road and headed away from them toward Monroe. Declan reached over for the car keys to turn on the ignition and Foss put his hand on his forearm, "Wait a moment. Let's make sure he's completely clear before we go."

A moment later, he nodded and Declan started the car and they pulled out onto the road and turned into the driveway to the house. The driveway was about a quarter mile long and led to a parking area in front of the house. They could see the large utility building to the right and behind the house.

Foss said, "Let's check the house first. We probably have about an hour but I'd like to be done in half of that. Forty five minutes at the most."

They got out of the SUV and walked together to the front door. Foss said, "Kyle, Jessi, any signs of anyone inside?"

Kyle and Jessi listened with concentration for a moment then Kyle assured him, "No heartbeats." Jessi nodded agreement.

Foss carefully examined the two front windows, "No sign of perimeter alarms." He indicated the locked door, "Declan want to give it a try?"

Declan took out his lock picking kit and in a few moments had the door open. Foss checked the perimeter of the door for signs of an alarm system and then nodded in satisfaction. They piled into the house and started checking out the rooms.

* * *

On the road, Cassidy's cell phone rang. He pulled it out, pushed speakerphone and set it on the dashboard, answering, "Hello."

"This is Rapid Alarm. We have a zone one motion alarm, would you like us to dispatch the police?"

"No," Cassidy answered casually, "I had one of my mates dropping by. I forgot and armed the alarm. Please ignore that and any other alarms you get in the next couple of hours."

"Could I have the password?"

"781227," Cassidy said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir."

Cassidy pulled over to the side of the road, did a U-turn and accelerated back toward his house.

* * *

A cursory walk through of the rooms of the house showed nothing unusual and they soon wound up in what was obviously the study. Kyle reached over and turned on the computer. It came up to the login screen.

Foss asked, "Can you get into the system?" He looked at his watch, "We've been ten minutes already, I don't want to spend a lot of time here."

"We should be able to get past the security," Kyle said. He turned to Jessi and suggested, "Why don't you tackle that. You won the competition at Stephen's class. I want to go and check the utility building."

"All right," Jessi said with a smile, and sat down and started breaking into Cassidy's computer.

Foss said, "I'll go with Kyle, Declan, you stay here with Jessi."

"All right," Declan said.

Kyle and Foss went out the front door, closing it behind them and walked the hundred feet to the utility building. When they got to the door, Foss went down on one knee to look at the lock. "This isn't a standard home door lock," Foss frowned. It will take me a while to open it.

"I think I can do it," Kyle put his hand on the lock, concentrated for a moment and then opened the door.

"That's a neat trick," Foss said appreciatively. "I wish I could learn how to do that."

"I was able to move the tumblers and line them up with my mind," Kyle explained. "I think that the trick is probably limited to Jessi and me."

Foss shook his head in wonder and led the way into the building.

* * *

Cassidy parked his car off of the road near the driveway to his house. He got out and started walking along the side of the driveway using the trees that lined it as cover as he approached the house. He could see Declan's SUV parked in front. As he moved toward it, he saw the door open and Kyle and Foss come out. He watched them walk toward the utility building.

He pulled the gun out of his pocket and checked it, chambering a round. Then he put it back into his pocket. His expression was grim.

He watched them reach the entrance and stop to examine the door. In a moment, they had opened the door and gone inside. He broke cover and started hurrying toward the entrance.

* * *

As they entered the building, Kyle saw that the back wall was lined with racks of objects about twice the size of coffins, each one covered with a tarp.

"This looks just like Cassidy's warehouse," Kyle said. "He had a large number of pods stored in it waiting for the fluid and the embryos."

"Do you think he has them running?" Foss asked. "It doesn't look like it."

"They look like they're simply in storage," Kyle agreed. "Let's check."

They walked over to the nearest one and pulled back the tarp. It was, indeed, one of the pods and it was empty.

"Empty," Kyle said. "He must have moved them here after I stopped his prior attempt."

"So did he give up?" Foss asked. "I don't see any signs of one running. I've spent enough time around them that I'm very familiar with what they should look like in operation."

Kyle smiled, "You've spent a lot more time outside of them looking in than I have. I've never seen one actually in use. At least not in person, I've been able to access the surveillance video from Zzyzx, but it's not the same as seeing one."

They walked along the rows checking the occasional pod. When they got to the end Kyle said, "This looks like almost all of the pods from the warehouse. Comparing this count to the one I get from my holographic memory shows that there's one missing."

"So he might have one set up somewhere else?" Foss asked.

"Maybe,' Kyle agreed. "This is just storage. There's no sign of growth formula or the necessary computer monitoring equipment to run them. Maybe Jessi can find out something from his computer."

* * *

In the house Jessi had broken through the main password on the system and was looking through the files in the directory structure. Declan was looking over her shoulder as she worked.

"This one looks important," Jessi pointed. "It has a separate encryption." She typed for a moment then frowned in concentration, "It's a custom encryption, it's pretty good. It may take me a while to break it."

"We only have another fifteen minutes," Declan reminded her. "Foss wants us to be out soon."

"It won't take that long," Jessi said smugly, "Probably another three minutes, I have a key testing algorithm running." She paused and looked thoughtfully ahead, listening. "There's someone outside," She said. She added analytically, "Another heartbeat. It's accelerated and obviously stressed." She looked up at Declan.

Declan said, "I'll check it out. You stay here and keep working on that encryption." He paused at the door and pulled his Glock out of his pocket, working the slide to load a round into the chamber. He carefully opened the door a crack and looked out. "I don't see anything," He said. He opened the door wider.

"That direction," Jessi pointed in the direction of the utility building.

"Right," Declan said. He went out the door and looked toward the utility building just in time to see Cassidy go in the door, carrying a gun in his hand. Declan began to run.

* * *

Kyle looked up as Cassidy strode into the center of the room. He was carrying a gun.

"And here you are again, always underfoot," Cassidy said, angrily. "It isn't enough that you destroyed my project and humiliated me. You also destroyed everything our mother worked for. Years of effort gone. You ruined our lives, Latnok meant everything to her." He shook his head and added, determinedly, "well, you are not going to do it to us again.' He raised the gun and pointed it at Kyle. "Sorry, Mate," He said and fired three times.

As Cassidy raised his gun, Tom Foss pulled his Glock from this coat pocket and brought it up to aim at Cassidy while simultaneously stepping in front of Kyle. He fired.

Cassidy's first round hit Foss in the right shoulder, twisting his body back and to the right, forcing Foss's shot high and to the right. As he struggled to pull the weapon back into line, the next two shots struck him in the chest and he went down without being able to fire a second shot.

Foss's shot had startled Cassidy and he flinched in reaction to having been shot at. As he saw Foss fall to the ground, he brought his gun back toward Kyle.

As Declan came through the doorway on the run, he fired at Cassidy. He hadn't had time to aim and the bullet missed wide to the right.

Cassidy, startled by the loud report to his right, turned and fired twice at Declan. It should have been an easy shot. Declan was only fifteen feet away.

But Declan had dropped to one knee after firing the first shot and Cassidy's shots went over his head. As he went to his knee, Declan braced his Glock with both hands centering it on Cassidy's chest. He pulled the trigger three times. All three shots hit and Cassidy fell backward and to the ground. Declan brought the aim of the Glock down to him on the ground but he was motionless. The room was echoing from the sound.

Kyle dropped to his knees and rolled Foss onto his back, his hand probing at the wounds in his chest which were leaking an alarming amount of blood.

_I could sense that Foss was bleeding internally from dozens of breaks in his circulatory system. His lungs were damaged and were beginning to fill with blood. I tried to close the leaks and redirect the flow but there were too many for me to manage, I could handle two or three, but there were far more than that._

"Stay with me, Foss," Kyle said.

Foss struggled to say, "It's over, Kyle." He took a breath, "Let me go. It's time for me to join Erica and Sara." He struggled for another breath, "Time to rest."

_I was losing the battle, blood was everywhere, I had practiced controlling fluid flows but this was far beyond anything I could do. His lungs were filling with blood, his heart was struggling as his veins and arteries emptied._

Kyle pleaded, "Foss, I need you. We need you."

"No you don't, Kyle," Foss managed to say. "I've trained Declan, he's always been your friend, he'll watch out for you now."

Foss was struggling to breathe, his eyes focused on Kyle he whispered, "I love you."

_I could feel his heart beat one last time, then it struggled to beat again and failed, quivering for a moment and then was still._

The focus of Tom Foss's eyes on Kyle gradually faded as Kyle said, "I love you too, Tom." Kyle knelt with his hands resting uselessly on the Foss's bloody chest, tears running down his face. He reached out and closed Foss's unseeing eyes.

"Kyle," Jessi shouted in terror, running into the room.

Kyle met her terrified eyes and assured her, "I'm all right Jessi." He added with anguish, "But Foss is dead."

The terror started to fade from Jessi's face as she saw that Kyle was safe. She looked around the room, taking in the scene. Declan was standing over Cassidy's body, holding his Glock. He looked at Jessi with a stunned expression, "I shot him."

Jessi knelt and put her hand on Cassidy's chest for a moment then she looked up at Declan, "He's dead." She stood up, looked at Declan's stricken face and said, "Thank you." Her lips were grim, "Sarah thanks you, too." Jessi patted him on the shoulder and left him standing over Cassidy's body and went to kneel next to Kyle, putting her arm around him comfortingly.

Kyle looked at his bloody hands and told her, "He saved me, Jessi. He stepped right in front of the bullets and died instead of me." He looked down at Foss and added, "I tried to stop the bleeding but there was too much. I just couldn't do it."

"I should have come out with Declan," Jessi said with regret. "I could have helped you."

"It wouldn't have mattered," Kyle said, miserably. "The bullets tore him up inside. There was more damage than even the two of us could have held together."

Declan walked over to them, still holding the gun. "What are we going to tell the police?" He asked opening his hands in question. He noticed he was still holding the gun, frowned at it, and put it back into his pocket.

Jessi stood up and looked around the room, "We can't bring the police into all of this." She thought for a moment and then said, decisively, "We're going to have to bury them ourselves. Like you and Foss did with the man who tried to kill me."

Kyle reluctantly stood up and said, "Jessi's right, there's no way we can explain this without getting into the experiment and everything. That has to stay secret."

"Won't someone come looking for him?" Declan said looking back at Cassidy.

"Cassidy went to a lot of effort to completely disappear," Jessi said. She smiled grimly, "and now he can just stay that way."

"And Foss only had us," Kyle added. "We can fake a lease and keep control of this place for at least a few months." He pointed at the pods behind him, "We'll have to do something with those."

Declan said, doubtfully, "So, we just bury them here?"

Kyle nodded and then paused reconsidering. He said, "No, we can take them to Adam's estate. It's not too far away. That would be a suitable place to lay Tom Foss to rest. And we can find a place for Cassidy there, too."

"I'd just as soon throw him in the ocean and feed him to the fish," Jessi said.

"I know, Jessi," Kyle said, "But someday I may have to tell Grace where he is." Declan looked concerned and Kyle reassured him, "Not for a long time." He noticed Declan's expression and asked, "Declan, are you all right?"

Declan smiled a twisted smile, "Not really. It was one thing to shoot targets. It's another thing to see a man's bloody body on the ground and know that you killed him. I think I am going to have some bad dreams over this."

Jessi put her hand on his upper arm consolingly, "They get better after time." She added quietly, "I know." She looked at Kyle, "I'll get some sheets from the house. We can use them to wrap the bodies."

Kyle took a deep breath, "I need to wash my hands. I'll get some cleaning supplies. We have to make an effort to clean up this mess."

"I'll come with you," Declan said. "I need to be doing something."

As they headed for the door, Jessi said, "I decoded his files. I think I've found the place where he's running the experiment."

Kyle said, "So he _was_ starting it up again. Well, now I guess we can bring his computer along with us. We're going to have to shut this version down too."


	20. Adam Baylin's Estate

_It was a sunny spring day when we buried Tom Foss and Michael Cassidy. By the time we reached Adam's estate, it was late in the afternoon, but we felt no rush, only a sense of numbness. We decided to bury Cassidy first. We were all anxious to be finished with him and none of us were quite ready to part with Tom Foss. We started by moving the bodies out of the SUV and into some shade, just in case someone came along. Then we found some shovels in a utility shed near the garden and went in search of an appropriate place to lay him to rest._

"I think that would be a good place." Kyle pointed to small grassy area surrounded by trees. "It's a pleasant place, away from normal paths and out of view of the house."

Jessi shrugged her acquiescence.

Declan said, "We should remove the sod in as large of chunks as possible so that we can make the grave look as undistinguished as possible. That's what ..." he swallowed, "Foss showed me to do. We should also do the full six feet."

The three of them shared the digging, although after a short period, there was only enough room for two so they had to have one rest while the other two dug. The ground was soft and they were able to get the necessary depth in about an hour of digging. They set their shovels down and went back to get Cassidy's body. After they returned, they carefully lowered him into the ground and then set about filling the grave. The normal ceremony of each person tossing in a handful of dirt was replaced by serious shoveling. In a short time, they replaced the sod and stood back.

"It looks pretty good," Declan said. "I'm sure Foss would find something we did wrong, but as long as no one is trying to find it, I don't think that any one will notice."

Kyle said, "After some time has passed, I'll put an unobtrusive marker on it. I don't want to make it obvious but it won't be unmarked."

_After that we all looked awkwardly at one another. It was obvious that we felt that we should have some ceremony. We felt that someone should say something at his graveside but none of us felt anything but animosity toward the man who had tried to kill me and had killed Foss and Sarah. I didn't doubt that he was biologically my brother, but I had no family feeling for him._

After a long moment, Jessi said, "Let's go take care of Tom." That galvanized them into action and they went in search of an appropriate site.

Kyle led them to a spot under a tree on a small hill within sight of the house. He explained his choice, "While I was staying with Adam, I would often look this way when I was having breakfast. I think it's a good place for him. He can still watch over the house and if we're here, we can visit."

Declan and Jessi agreed and they all began digging. Although they were tired from digging Cassidy's grave, they found it somehow easier, partially because of familiarity with the process and partially because they wanted to do a good job for Foss. The sun was near the horizon when they finished the grave and went to get Foss.

When they returned, they lowered him gently into the grave and Jessi added a handful of flowers she had gotten from the garden. They started putting dirt back into the grave, initially very gently as if unwilling to disturb him. As they covered him, the pace accelerated and soon they had it filled and the sod replaced.

By the time they'd finished, the sun had set but the late spring evening was still light and pleasant. They stepped back and gave each other some space, knowing that this time they each would have something to say. By unspoken agreement, Kyle went first, moving closer to the grave and speaking quietly.

"I owe you for my life, Tom," Kyle said. "At least twice, probably more times than I can guess. I owe you for Jessi's life too. If you hadn't been there and known what to do Grimes would have killed her. You've always been there for me. You've watched over me all my life, ever since I was in the pod. How can I repay such a debt?" He looked at the grave for a moment and added, "Once, when I thanked you, you told me to make sure I was worth it." He took a breath and continued, "I promise you, I will be. We will both be."

Kyle stood for a moment, then stepped back and looked at Jessi who smiled a grim smile and moved closer. "You apologized for leaving me behind the night of the firebombing," Jessi said. "I understood, we both knew that Kyle had to be saved. I told you that I would give my life to protect Kyle and you said you would too." She blinked away the tears, "Now you have. You saved me from the killer and you've helped me with my guilt for killing the man in the woods. You've always been a friend to me, one of the very few I have. I'm going to miss you. Thank you, Tom."

She stepped back and took Kyle's hand, while Declan stepped forward and quietly said, "You've been like a father to me, perhaps more than my real father. You've taught me to be so much more than a failed basketball player. You said that protecting them was worth doing and I've watched you save them both." He thought a moment, "The world will be a much better place because you were alive when the paramedics came." He swallowed, "I promise you, I'll look after them now and do my best to keep them safe. I'll keep learning even though I don't have you to teach me anymore. You're right; it's something worth doing, something worth dying for."

_We all stood watch over Tom Foss's grave as the evening faded to twilight and the stars began to come out. Then we carried the shovels back to the garden shed, got into Declan's car to drive home in silence. When Tom Foss had given me the papers to Adam's estate I had been pleased to own the place that I had spent time with Adam, although I didn't really feel a part of it. Our actions this day had tied me to the grounds in a profound way and made it a part of me. I knew that as the years went by I would spend time here. Tom Foss had been a private man and didn't need much in the way of company, but I wouldn't leave him alone and forgotten._


	21. Kyle's Room

_As I lay in my tub that night, sleep eluded me. I contemplated the fragility of life. I was alive, sleepless in my tub because of the sacrifices others had made. Tom Foss had given his life and Declan had killed a man - had killed my brother, at least my biological half brother. I didn't regret Cassidy's death. He had killed Sarah and would have killed me. But I regretted the cost. Tom Foss had saved my life many times. He had saved Jessi in the woods. What would we do without him? What damage would it cause Declan to have had to kill another human being?_

_We had not told Nicole and Stephen about what had happened yet, but they needed to know. We'd been too tired and stunned from the day to do so when we got home. We had decided to take care of shutting down the experiment first and then we would be able to tell them everything that had happened, including the news we had gotten about Paul Milworth from the data we were monitoring._

_I could tell that Jessi was restless and unable to sleep as well. I wanted her with me and wanted to hold her and feel her energy and mine strengthen each other. I thought in her direction, "Jessi, I really need to hold you." I got back a wave of positive feeling and could hear her getting out of bed and heading toward my room._

Jessi came into Kyle's room and turned to lock the door, then she went to the side of his tub and he opened his arms, welcomingly. She climbed in and curled up against his chest, resting her head on his shoulder and putting her open hand on his bare chest. Kyle put his arms around her and held her and she stretched to kiss him gently then settled back against his chest.

"I'm glad you're safe," Jessi whispered, "I was so frightened when I heard the shooting and sensed your distress." She shivered slightly, "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

"I know," Kyle stroked her hair. "That's how I felt when you had been attacked and I couldn't sense you. I thought I'd lost you."

"Tom saved us both," Jessi said. "What will we do without him?"

"He said that Declan would look after us, that he had trained him."

"Tom Foss had years of experience," Jessi objected. "He could do a lot of things that Declan can't."

"Declan saved my life," Kyle said. "He shot Cassidy. If he hadn't, Cassidy would have killed me too." Kyle mused, "Declan has always been there for me. I've always been able to count on him. Being my friend and keeping my secrets has cost him a lot. I think it cost him Lori's trust. I hope killing Cassidy doesn't cost him too much."

"It's hard to live with killing someone," Jessi admitted. "I still have dreams about the man in the woods sometimes. Maybe Nicole can help him."

Kyle sighed, "We're going to have to tell Nicole and Stephen about all of this. Nicole is going to be upset. I'm always upsetting Nicole. Taking me in has cost the Tragers a lot of pain. I never wanted to put the ones I love in danger."

"It wasn't your fault, Kyle," Jessi said. "It was because of who you are and what you can do. What we can both do. And Nicole loves you."

"I love her too," Kyle said. "I love my family." He kissed Jessi on the forehead and added, "Our family."

"I'm glad Cassidy is dead," Jessi said. "He killed my mother. I didn't know what we were going to do about it. I just knew we had to do something. He couldn't get away with killing her." She quietly confessed, "The night in The Rack when we pretended that I was going to kill him, I wasn't completely acting, I really wanted to. I could have done it easily. I had control of his abdominal aorta."

"I know it was hard for you," Kyle told her. "I'm glad you didn't. It would have been a burden on you for the rest of your life."

"But now Declan has to bear the burden," Jessi said.

"He did what he had to do to save my life," Kyle said. "That's different than killing someone for what they have done. There is less of a choice and more of a necessity."

"I suppose so," Jessi nodded thoughtfully. After a moment she added with a smile, "So now that we've dealt with Cassidy, all we have to do is shut down the new project and our lives will be able to be normal, whatever normal means for us."

Kyle smiled, remembering their conversation from the first time he went off to destroy the experiment, "Some kind of constant? I'm beginning to think that even constant is unlikely. I think life is about change and growth."

Jessi turned and kissed his chest, then put her head back down on his shoulder, "Some changes have been really nice."

_When we had shut down Cassidy's first experiment I had wanted to live a normal life and had seen the threats from Latnok and the need to stop the experiment as standing in the way. I hadn't wanted the burden of being special. Jessi had always argued that we should embrace what we were, to make the most of our abilities. We had followed that path and had grown and accomplished many things. But there had been costs, the events of today had cost us a great deal. I felt saddened and drained. Holding Jessi in my arms, and feeling her energy resonate with mine, strengthened my spirit and my resolve. Our 'normal' life wouldn't be the same as others had but it would be an adventure, and I had a companion for that journey._


	22. Cassidy's Facility

Declan parked his SUV up in front of an office/light industrial complex, about the same age as the one that Kesdet Consulting occupied. The units were smaller and all one story tall. He got out along with Jessi and Kyle.

"Cassidy was renting unit five," Kyle said. "According to the documentation it's a small unit, twelve hundred square feet."

They walked down to unit five and looked inside. It seemed unoccupied. They could see a desk in the front and some mail on the floor. The lights were off.

Kyle looked at the door lock, "It seems like a standard lock, Declan. Do you want to do it?"

Declan looked around and shook his head, "You'll be faster. Let's just get this done. I don't like standing out here in the open."

Kyle smiled at him and put his right hand over the door lock and his left hand on the handle. He concentrated for a moment as he moved the tumblers into place and then pulled the door open, holding it for Declan and Jessi to go through and then following them in and closing the door behind himself.

They were in a small reception area occupied by a desk with a phone and computer sitting on it. Kyle picked up the mail off the floor and put it on the desk, "We might as well keep up the pretense that someone is coming here."

"There might actually be someone here," Declan cautioned. "Let's not get careless." He was obviously beginning to get used to having to take the lead on thinking about security, trying to act the way Tom Foss would have.

At the back of the first office was the entry to the warehouse portion. There they found a sturdy door with a digital keypad lock. Kyle and Jessi stood next to the door and listened. He looked at Jessi with a surprised expression. Jessi returned his look with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you hear," Declan asked. "Is there anyone inside?"

"We can hear air conditioning, pumps and various machinery sounds," Kyle said. "And two faint heartbeats, more rapid than normal, about a hundred and forty beats per minute."

"They don't sound stressed," Jessi observed, "It's probably from inside the pods."

"I thought you said that there was only one pod missing from the utility building," Declan objected.

Kyle said, "Cassidy had one at the Latnok offices. That would be the second one." Kyle attempted to open the lock by rapidly keying different combinations. In a moment he hit the right combination and the door unlocked. He turned to Declan, "You should probably watch the front door while we take care of this."

"Right," Declan turned to watch out the front glass.

Kyle pushed the heavy door open. Inside they could see a dimly lit room containing two pods filled with the familiar pink fluid. He could see something floating in the nearer one. On the side it had a label saying 781227A. The rest of the room was filled with computer and monitoring equipment, pumps for managing the fluid exchange and other life support.

"So that's what we looked like," Jessi said. "I never got to see my pod."

"I have access to the Zzyzx database," Kyle said. "So I can 'remember' a video of mine."

"More clones of you, Kyle," Jessi said with a tinge of jealousy.

Kyle walked around to look at the other one. It said 781228A. He looked back at Jessi, "Not both of them."

Jessi joined him and frowned at the pod, "How did he get my DNA to make a clone?"

"All it takes is a single viable skin cell," Kyle said. "It's easy enough to do."

"I thought they believed I was flawed," Jessi objected, her pleasure at being included, even in an experiment she disapproved of was obvious. "They wanted to use you."

"You must have made a strong impression on Cassidy in The Rack," Kyle said, with a smile.

Jessi smiled at him and went over to the computer controlling the pods and started paging through displays. "I should be able to do a shutdown from here. We can finally end this experiment. It'll finally be all over."

Kyle looked into the pink fluid and watched the inhabitant. After a moment, he said, "Jessi, stop."

Jessi looked up from the computer, "What's wrong?"

"It looks like Gretchen's baby," Kyle said. "The one I helped deliver by the roadside." He looked at her and spread his hands, "We're too late, Jessi, they're too far developed. We can't kill them."

Jessi walked over and stood next to him looking into the fluid. She said in an analytical tone, "Its development looks consistent with a gestational period of seven months."

"Then they're viable," Kyle nodded.

"What are we going to do?" Jessi asked. "We don't want to leave them in there for years."

"Just two more months," Kyle said. "They'll have a better chance of being healthy if they have the full nine month gestation period. Then we can take them out. There are lots of people who are anxious to adopt a baby. We can find them good families." He began to have a hint of enthusiasm, "They'll have normal lives, the lives we didn't get, a mother to hold them and read them bedtime stories."

"Waiting for Santa to bring presents at Christmas," Jessi added with a smile.

Kyle smiled at her, "Nicole will help us arrange it. She knows how the system works."

He reached out put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder. They stood looking into the tank while the baby inside slowly moved.


End file.
